the building is almost identical to the Ottawa County Courthouse in Port Clinton, Ohio. After visiting Starke county, the Ottawa county commissioners decided to utilize the same architectural plans, and the building was constructed in 1901. Main Façade The main façade is on the south. It has three bays with a central pavilion. The pavilion has a wall dormer. The main entrance is on the ground level and projects outward only for the first level. It is built of rock-faced stone blocks. The entryway has a balustrade balcony, on a corbel table, spanning a one-story entry with gargoyle light fixtures. Above the balcony is a two and one-half story round-arched window. Flanking the central pavilion are single bays, with a pair of windows topped by a round arch at the ground level. At the second floor and above the walls are of rock-faced stone, with alternating courses of wide and narrow stones. Although the third floor double-hung windows are round-arched, their heads are Gothic-arched, with rock-faced voussoirs and ornate springers. Four pilasters are located on the facade, at each corner and flanking the central pavilion. The roofline has stone pinnacles above each pilaster. Clock Tower From the center of the red, clay-tiled roof rises a square clock tower. It has two parts that are separated by a cornice and balustrade resembling the balcony over the main entrance. The lower section contains paired, deepset, compound, round-arched windows, divided horizontally into four lights. The springers are decorated. The cornice has gargoyle-like sculptures at each corner. The upper section has an arcade beneath, the clock. It is made of dressed, course ashlar and has a hipped roof. Interior The courthouse interior has hardwood and ceramic-tiled floors, plaster and panel wall treatments, and ornate cornice and pilaster capitals. The staircase is accented by ornamental iron balusters, marble steps, and a patriotic ceiling painting of Liberty located between the first and second floors. Ionic capitals, with polychrome gilding, eagle, and shield are found on hall columns and pilasters. Bibliography McCormick, Chester A. McCormick's Guide to Starke County. 1902. Richman, George J. History of Hancock County, Indiana. 1916. Greenfield, IN: Mitchell Publishing Company. Standard History of Starke County, Indiana, A. Vol. 1. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1915. Starke County Centennial, 1850-1950. Published by the Starke County Democrat. References County courthouses in Indiana Clock towers in Indiana Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in