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Walking Youngstown
Item 8 of 13
Completed in 1910 in Youngstown Ohio, this courthouse was considered a point of pride for the county. Costing the city $1,904,424 the Mahoning County Courthouse went over its original budget of $1,000,000. The building stood with minor changes until 1985 when it was voted to be restored. The restoration took 6 years and cost $8,000,000 an effort to return the building to its former glory.

The Mahoning County Courthouse as it stand today.

The Mahoning County Courthouse as it stand today.

The main entrance of the Mahoning County Courthouse

The main entrance of the Mahoning County Courthouse

The main hall of the Mahoning County Courthouse

The main hall of the Mahoning County Courthouse

The Mahoning County Courthouse serves as a reminder of Youngstown's ambition throughout the years. The current Mahoning County Courthouse is actually the third courthouse to be built in the county. The first of the three courthouse's was completed in 1848 the same year Mahoning county was established. Youngstown then battled for the county seat of Mahoning county and built the second courthouse after winning the seat in 1876. After the second courthouse began falling into disrepair the current Mahoning county courthouse, the one pictured above, was constructed in 1910.

Construction on the courthouse began in 1907. The referendum to build the new courthouse was voted on in 1906 and won by a vote total of 5,518 to 4,660, a budget of $1,000,000 was decided upon. The lead architect for the building was a man by the name of Charles F Owsley, who was the son of the man who had built the first courthouse in the county Charles H Owsley. The new Mahoning county courthouse was pitched as the "finest courthouse between New York and Chicago" and to the officials credit they spared no expense. The total cost of the courthouse afters its completion was $1,904,424 almost a million dollars over budget.

The building slowly modernized until 1985 when an ambitious restoration project attempted to restore the building to its former glory. In total the renovations cost $8,000,000 this arduous process involved removing the false surfaces that had be installed throughout the decades as well as installing an entirely new HVAC system and cleaning and retouching murals found in the courthouse. The restoration took 6 years, however because of the diligence done by the construction teams the building now stands at its former glory.

Johanneson, Eric. Mahoning County Courthouse . National Register of Historic Places Inventory . Published August 13th 1974.

Rich, Leann. The Mahoning County Courthouse , mahoninghistory.blogspot.com. November 13th 2007. Accessed August 11th 2019. http://mahoninghistory.blogspot.com/2007/11/mahoning-county-courthouse.html.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

https://www.mahoningcountyoh.gov/182/Clerk-of-Courts

https://youngstownlive.com/attraction/mahoning-county-courthouse/

https://youngstownlive.com/attraction/mahoning-county-courthouse/