By Marilyn Odendahl
The Indiana Citizen
August 8, 2025
As he traveled to county seats collecting portraits of local courthouses for the past 18 years, attorney Douglas Church came to recognize the majestic structures that loomed over the town squares were not just objects of architectural wonder but also reflections of Hoosier optimism.
Many of the county courthouses built in the 19th and 20th centuries across Indiana still remain the center of their communities, housing the courts as well as local government offices. They showcase a vast palette of architectural styles from Beaux Arts and Renaissance Revival to Italianate and Neoclassical Revival. Built primarily with limestone and brick, the courthouses include flourishes like stained glass, statuary, cupolas, domed towers, and rotundas.
Church, a named partner at Church Church Hittle + Antrim in Hamilton County, started collecting original artwork depicting the courthouses in each of Indiana’s 92 counties in 2007, during his tenure as president of the Indiana State Bar Association. He wanted to encourage more collaboration between the state and local bar associations, so he asked for portraits of county courthouses to highlight the online legal research tool and free training being offered by ISBA.
Over the next 18 years, Church drove to large metropolitan cities and small rural towns to pick up the paintings and drawings of the courthouses. He saw the structures up close, inside and out, and realized they were more than just government buildings.
When many of the courthouses were built in the 1800s, the frontier mentality and chaos that preceded Indiana’s statehood, Church said, were still fresh in many Hoosiers’ memories. The courthouses, with their high price tags and complex construction, reflected a confidence that the rule of law would create a safe and stable community.
“That whole concept of the rule of law seemed to be kind of the essence of why they did it,” Church said. “You knew that the community would be stable. You could raise your family, you could build a business, you could walk down the streets at night safely.”
The works are now on display through Sept. 26 in the “Icons of Community: Indiana’s Historic County Courthouses” exhibit at the Indiana Landmark Center’s Rapp Family Gallery. The exhibition opened Aug. 1 with a First Friday talk at the headquarters for Indiana Landmarks in Indianapolis’ Old Northside neighborhood with Church, former ISBA president Clayton Miller and Elizabeth Osborn, director of education at Indiana University Center on Representative Government.
Church has always made room for civic engagement and artistic preservation in his career. In addition to his private practice, he served as attorney for the city of Noblesville during the administration of Mayor Mary Sue Rowland as well as for the Town of Fishers. Also, he was instrumental in the effort to save and transform Conner Prairie into an outdoor living history museum.
For his tireless effort in collecting the courthouse paintings, Church was honored by the Indiana Supreme Court and Gov. Mike Braun. He also received the presidential citation, the highest honor from the Indiana State Bar Association.
The pursuit of the courthouse collection brought together Church’s knowledge of the law, his commitment to preservation and his desire to support Indiana artists.
Miller, a past member of the Indiana Landmarks board of directors, noted the courthouses not only anchor many town squares but also occupy a place in the hearts and minds of local residents.
Consequently, plans to surrender any of the majestic historical structures to a wrecking ball can illicit passionate responses. The decision by the Randolph County commissioners in June 2005 to tear down the 130-year-old Italianate courthouse so angered a group of seven octogenarian ladies that they fought back by taking off their clothes. To underscore their message that “Old is Beautiful,” the women, who became known as the “Courthouse Girls,” posed for pictures wearing only their birthday suits but with replicas of the courthouse strategically placed so they could retain their dignity. Those photos were assembled into a calendar, which attracted media attention and inspired a documentary.
In the face of such naked opposition, the commissioners relented and appropriated the funds to refurbish the courthouse, built in 1877, with a new roof and restored clock tower. The women have all since passed away, but the courthouse they saved still stands in downtown Winchester.
Osborn, too, noted that many of Indiana’s old courthouses are a mix of artistry and civic aspirations. Their architectural flourishes and breathtaking interiors were built to serve the people by housing the local government offices. County residents went there to pay their taxes, register to vote, appear in court or attend a town council meeting.
Echoing Church, Osborn said the county courthouse is the “physical manifestation” of Hoosiers’ faith in the rule of law. She noted when Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and politician, wrote “Democracy in America,” based on his tour of the United States in the 1830s, he highlighted the foundational principles of the young democracy.
“He commented over and over again about what made America different than Europe and it was this belief in the rule of law, which was so different from their European counterparts,” Osborn said. “The average European, as a small-town farmer, didn’t have that belief that the law was going to protect him or her, that they had a right to go to a local place and have a chance to win” a dispute.
Church built the courthouse art collection by encouraging, cajoling, and occasionally pleading with local citizens and routinely putting a lot of miles on his car. The result is a mix of painting styles, from Realism to Impressionism, and mediums that include oil, watercolor and pastels. Also the collection is made a bit eclectic with a pen-and-ink drawing, a woodcut and a fiber-art rendering.
The last piece of the collection was acquired earlier this year, when Cass County donated a portrait of its courthouse. The artwork was found among paintings that had been done by a deceased but prolific painter who was known as the local Grandma Moses.
Some paintings were retrieved from basements and others created especially for the collection.
A lawyer in Jackson County commissioned Cathleen Huffman to paint the local courthouse, which led to a handful of artists from the Watercolor Society of Indiana volunteering their talents to capture courthouses on canvas. The Tippecanoe County Bar Association designed a contest with the winning painting being donated to the ISBA collection and the runners-up being hung in the courtrooms of the local courthouse.
“As I’ve traveled around a lot of times, we found the local bar or the local historical society or some other group decided that it was important enough to participate in this project, because they wanted to make sure people appreciated their courthouse,” Church said.
When asked if the project inspired him to swirl a little paint on canvas, Church skipped the standard lawyer answer of “It depends” and instead relayed the story of being allowed to pass an art class on the promise that he would never pick up an easel or brush again.
“I have no artistic talent, which is why I really appreciate the fact that there are people who do,” Church said. “I have always been fascinated by the fact that some people have the skill and talent that they can sit down and start to paint on paper and the next thing you know, they’ve actually developed a work of art.”
Dwight Adams, an editor and writer based in Indianapolis, edited this article. He is a former content editor, copy editor and digital producer at The Indianapolis Star and IndyStar.com, and worked as a planner for other newspapers, including the Louisville Courier Journal.
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org.
