Michigan's County Courthouses

Midland County

124 MIDLanD—at the confluence of the chippewa and tittabawassee Rivers, many a fine thing bubbles up from the bygone-era brine below Midland county. among them is the distinctively designed Midland county courthouse. native americans called this land and its rivers “Little Forks.”the county seal depicts a pine tree, a brine well, and a horn of plenty, symbols that encapsulate lasting features of Midland county. Midland county was first organized on March , . Its officers met initially at the house of John Larkin. In , the county authorized $, in bonds for construction of a courthouse on land donated by Dr. Daniel H. Fitzhugh. timothy Jerome erected the building the following year. He had to make a number of unrecorded alterations before the county would accept it. circuit court first occurred at a schoolhouse on the corner of ashman and ellsworth. the two-story white frame colonial courthouse had four exterior columns supporting a simple triangular portico. a jail and sheriff’s residence, the first brick building in the county, was completed in . Inmates reportedly assisted the sheriff’s wife around the building while her husband tended to his lumbering business. In a notable early case, a suit for nonpayment on an account rested on evidence in the form of one sheet of paper. the plaintiff kept every local reputable attorney in his employ, intending that his opponent retain no more than a shyster. Local lore contends that the defendant’s attorney spotted this evidence on a table during an unspecified meeting. He took hold of it, calmly chewing and swallowing portions of it while everyone else present was otherwise engaged. the case was dismissed for lack of evidence. an assault and battery case resulted in a sentence of a three-dollar fine and “whisky for the crowd.” court adjourned to the Red Keg to collect the fine and costs, where it was decided to convert the three-dollar fine to more drinks. the first courthouse was retired in . three years later,it was auctioned for $ to Hirama.crane and razed. Its successor was born of the chemical industry that took root several years earlier with the arrival of Herbert H.Dow. In , he brought to Midland his electrolytic process for extracting chemicals from the ancient sea brine underneath the surrounding flatlands. He rented a barn, connected a homemade rope drive from a flour mill’s steam engine, reactivated a nearby brine well, and proved that his process worked. In time, Dow chemical company would grow into a world player and the centerpiece of the local economy. Dow—the man and the company—played a pivotal role in designing and building the new courthouse, beginning with local authorities’ proposal in  of $, in local bonds for the new building. Dow pledged additional funds and technical expertise as a gift if he could influence what shape the building would take. a countywide vote in  was favorable, due in part, some said, to plans for a memorial room dedicated to the  local men who served during World War I. the building’s rustic tudor Revival style was the brainchild of Detroit architect Bloodgood tuttle. He heeded Dow’s call for local flavor that eschewed the mold of other public buildings in the state and, indeed, the nation. that flavor finds its expression in the exclusive use of local materials for the external construction, a rarity in the construcMidland County MIDLanD cOunty 125 tion industry. Dow insisted on collecting local fieldstone, and it is believed that few local farmers failed to contribute stone from their land. When the s addition was built, a sign on the courthouse lawn invited everyone to “Place Stone Here For your new court House addition.” the stone walls of the two- and three-story structure are half-timbered with stuccoed gable ends and hipped roofs covered in orange, red, and tan clay tiles. Dormer windows breaking the cornice line are also featured. For the exterior of this courthouse, tuttle emphasized the latter part of the word, as the building has a distinctively residential look and feel. the sparkling murals are a unique component of the building. Dow developed a new material for the murals: finely ground colored glass mixed with magnesite cement. He hired Paul Honore, a Detroit artist, to mix and apply this magnesite stucco throughout the interior and exterior of the building, depicting scenes of local history and industry —native americans, pine trees, trapping, logging, farming , and chemical manufacturing. Dow’s technical innovation was designed to produce murals...