Warsaw Courthouse Square Historic District

About this property

The Warsaw Courthouse Square Historic District is a historic district in Warsaw, Indiana that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Its boundaries were increased in 1993. Warsaw was named after the capital of Poland, the homeland of the county's namesake, Thaddeus Kosciusko. Beginning in 1834, settlers arrived, a blacksmith shop and several dwellings were built. A year after being platted it was chosen as the county seat. In 1854 Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway came to town and growth began. The Kosciusko County Jail was designed by George O. Garnsey and built by Richard Epperson in 1870, the Gothic Revival fortress-like jail is an intimidating sight. The Opera House was constructed in 1874 after a fire destroyed an earlier hall. This three-story brick building contained seating for 1,500 people. The former Odd Fellows Building dates from 1872. With more rail lines, canneries, flour mills, ice making and farm implements factories developed. In 1916 the Widaman-McDonald Building was built and housed a 500-seat Centennial Theatre. Prosperity continued into the twentieth century. Early in the century, the Winona Interurban Railway began operation, enabling people in the outlying areas to get to Warsaw quickly and inexpensively. A number of commercial buildings were constructed during this period including the Widaman-McDonald Building, the Eagles Lodge and two buildings on Center Street. The district's most impressive 20th century building is the Post Office designed by the Office of the Supervising Architect under James A. Wetmore in 1931. The Warsaw Court House and Jail District consists of two city blocks in downtown Warsaw, Indiana. The district is bounded by Main Street, Indiana Street, Center Street and Lake Street. The District contains thirteen commercial and governmental buildings. The Kosciusko County Court House, the Saemann Building, and the Kosciusko County Jail are architecturally significant. The Eagles Building, the Widaman-McDonald Building, the Humpty Dumpty Restaurant contribute architecturally to the district. The buildings on Center Street provide a continuous façade line to the 16 feet (4.9 m) sidewalk as a group. Like other counties, Kosciusko County built a magnificent courthouse in the center of the dense commercial district. The courthouse is the architectural and political centerpiece of the community. The nearby Jail, constructed eleven years before the courthouse, was designed by George O. Garnsey, of Chicago. The Saemann Building (Crownover/Masonic Lodge Building) replaced a resort hotel that was destroyed by fire in 1883. A new hotel was being constructed down the street, it was decided to build a three-story commercial structure. The building had commercial establishments on the first floor, law offices on the second floor, and the third floor was Warsaw's Masonic Lodge.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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