Mason County Courthouse (Michigan)

The Mason County Courthouse is a courthouse located at 300 East Ludington Avenue in Ludington, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

History

The first courthouse in Mason County was located in the two-story home of Burr Caswell, who turned over the home to the county in 1856. In 1861 the courthouse was moved to a store building located in the now-vanished village of Little Sauble in the north of the county. In 1873 the county seat was moved to the more centrally located village of Ludington, and a single-story county office building was built. Although this building was enlarged, it was quickly outgrown, and in 1892 voters approved the construction of a new courthouse.
The courthouse square was acquired in 1893, and the county hired Grand Rapids architect Sidney J. Osgood to design a new courthouse. Construction began later that year and was completed in September 1894.

Description

The Mason County Courthouse is a square, Richardsonian Romanesque building constructed of dark red brick and reddish brown sandstone. The raised basement story is finished with rock-faced sandstone, and two upper floors are finished with brick, with a beltcourse, window sills, lintels, and other trim of the same sandstone. The building is topped with a combination hip and gable roof. In the center is a pyramid-roof clock tower.