The Courthouse of Crawford County, Ohio, is a landmark of the county seat, Bucyrus, Ohio. The courthouse was built in 1854 on East Mansfield Street by architect Harlan Jones and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 1985-02-28 as a part of the Bucyrus Commercial Historic District.HistoryCrawford County was established in 1820 but the issue of a county seat was not resolved for 10 years. The county was divided between the northern population, favoring Crawford and the southern citizens who favored Bucyrus. The first county building, the jailhouse was built in 1827. The issues dragged on until the election of 1830, when the commissioners selected Bucyrus to be the temporary county seat. During much exhausting campaigning, it was decided to allow the county seat to remain in Bucyrus.The first courthouse was designed by Colonel James Kilbourne and was completed in 1832 and accepted by the county in 1833. The two-story brick building resembled the Ohio Statehouse with a flat roof and a central cupola. The entire facade was painted white to give it a more stately appearance. During construction a scaffolding collapsed killing two workers, the names of which are located in the location of their death. In 1837 the decision was made to place a bell in the cupola and the county purchased on for $100.As the construction on the courthouse was finishing, the old county jail of 1827 burned down. The county did have enough funds to construct a new one and this project was placed on hold until 1839. The new jailhouse was located close to the courthouse. The soft brick used in construction allowed many prisoners to escape which led to the whole block being surrounded by a solid board fence.
