Wikimapia is a multilingual open-content collaborative map, where anyone can create place tags and share their knowledge.

Old Perry County Courthouse (Rome, Indiana) | NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1810s construction

USA / Kentucky / Cloverport / Rome, Indiana
 NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1810s construction

Listed on the 2009 Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana 10 Most Endangered Hoosier landmarks list.

Built in 1818, the Old Perry County Courthouse in Rome lost its government role in 1859 when the county seat moved to Cannelton. After the county government departed, the Rome courthouse transitioned to use as a school, remaining the centerpiece of a dwindling community. Finally, the school closed too. Today, recast as a community center, the courthouse presides over a once bustling Ohio River town that has lost population and buildings.



“Courthouses reflect the high ideals of our forebears: they should be saved, restored, and honored,” says Randall T. Shepard, Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court and recently appointed by Governor Daniels as chairman of the Courthouse Preservation Advisory Commission. “The courthouse at Rome is a terribly important building whose isolation is both a blessing and a curse. I’ll always remember the audible gasps from two National Park service officials when we turned a corner from high corn and saw this building,” he adds.



The threat: Indiana’s oldest extant courthouse may not see its bicentennial. The cupola on the Federal-style landmark leaks and the interior is rundown. A vending machine parked against the main facade mars the building’s dignified simplicity, but income from the incongruous pop machine helps pay the utility bills. The community center’s board members strive valiantly to maintain the National Register-listed landmark, but the building simply doesn’t generate enough revenue to cover annual maintenance, let alone renovation. If the community center cannot recruit interest, involvement and support, a sustainable new use must be found for the courthouse.

from:www.historiclandmarks.org/SavingPlaces/10Most/Pages/Rom...
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   37°55'25"N   86°31'26"W
This article was last modified 3 years ago