The Butler County Courthouse is located in Hamilton, Ohio and was constructed from 1885-1889 by architect David W. Gibbs. The courthouse is a registered historic building listed in the National Register on June 22, 1981.HistoryButler County was established in 1803 from a section of Hamilton County. The county seat selected was Hamilton and the first courthouse was built 1806 and the second in 1817 on the site of the present structure. When the county realized that the courthouse was too small for the population, a new plan by D.W. Gibbs and was designed in the Second Empire style with features from the Italianate style.County officials laid the building's cornerstone on October 29, 1885. As county funds were insufficient for construction, contracts could not be let until enabling legislation for bond issuance had been passed by the Ohio General Assembly; the necessary legislation was sponsored by George F. Elliott, the senator from Butler County. When originally built, the courthouse centered on a four-part clock tower, which was replaced by a smaller tower with a dome after the original tower collapsed in a 1912 fire. The 1912 tower remains in place, minus the dome, which fell prey to lightning in the 1920s.
