Bartholomew County is named for Joseph Bartholomew, who was a United States Senator and who was wounded at the Battle of Tippecanoe.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Johnson County and Shelby County
E – Decatur County and Jennings County
S – Jennings County and Jackson County
W – Brown County
Created: January 8, 1821 
County Seat:
Tiptonia 1821
Columbus 1821 – present
County Courthouse – Columbus
Location: 234 Washington Street / 3rd Street
Built: 1871 – 1874
Style: French Second Empire
Architect: Isaac Hodgson of Indianapolis
Contractor: McCormack & Sweeney of Columbus
Description: The building faces east and is a two story red colored brick structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Columbus. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Columbus. The building is “L” shaped with the north and east wings joining at the northeast corner. The east front has a porch with six arches on the first story with balcony on the second story. On the northeast corner is a four story square red colored brick tower with steep roof and platform at the top. Shorter and wider towers are on the southeast and northwest corners. White colored stone decorates the windows and the corners. The building houses the County Circuit Court and the County Superior Court of the 21st Judicial District. The building was renovated in 1928, remodeled in 1968 and restored in 1998.
See: The architect, Isaac Hodgson of Indianapolis also designed courthouses in Henry County, Jennings County and Morgan County.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Bartholomew County Courthouse
See: The 21st Judicial District includes Brown County, Decatur County, Jackson County and Jennings County.
History: The county was created in 1821 and Tiptonia was selected as the county seat. The first county meeting was held at the house of John Parker on Haw Creek in 1821. The name of the county seat was changed to Columbus. The first courthouse was a log house built in 1820 and purchased in 1821 from Luke Bonesteel for $50 and converted for use as the courthouse1. The second courthouse was a brick structure built by Giles Mitchell in 1825. The third courthouse was built in 1831 and not completed until 1839. The fourth courthouse was designed and built by John Elder in 1839 at a cost of $8,500. The fifth and present courthouse was constructed in 1870 to 1874 at a cost of $225,000.
County Governmental Offices – Columbus
Location: 3rd Street / Franklin Street
Built: 1966 – 1968
Style: Modern
Architect: Unknown
Contractor: Unknown
Description: The building faces south and is a four story brown colored concrete structure. The building is located in the center of Columbus to the southeast of the courthouse. The first story has a recessed arcade The roof line is flat. The building was converted in 1978. The architect was James Associates and the contractor was Taylor Brothers.
County Courthouse – Columbus
County Governmental Offices – Columbus
Photos taken 2008