Daviess County is named for Joseph Hamilton Daviess, who was the United States District Attorney for Kentucky and who was killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Greene County
E – Martin County
S – Dubois County and Pike County
W – Knox County
Created: December 23, 1816 
County Seat:
Washington ( Liverpool ) 1817 – present
County Courthouse – Washington
Location: 200 East Walnut Street / NE 2nd Street
Built: 1928 – 1929
Style: Neo-Classical
Architect: Sutton & Routt of Vincennes
Contractor: English Brothers of Champaign, Illinois
Description: The building faces south and is a two story gray colored stone and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Washington. The south front front has a long porch with six large columns rising to a wide header containing a clock. There are three recessed entrance doors. A cornice runs below the roof line. Interior walls are brick covered with plaster and painted. All wood trim is unpainted. Windows have red marble sills but no trim. Doors are natural finish wood with single lights; lower panels are solid, and lights are either pressed or clear glass. A grand staircase is against the north wall, with a private corridor behind. The inlaid Tennessee marble floor has a buff and pink field with red borders. Walls are painted plaster with wainscot and cap of buff marble and red marble base. Painted crown molding tops the walls. Office doors located in the east and west public corridors have plain buff marble surrounds. At the southeast and southwest lobby corners, two compound piers are flanked by single square columns. The painted plaster columns have buff marble wainscot and caps and red marbles bases. Plaster moldings painted a darker shade than the column shafts accentuate the capitals, which support the second floor arcade. The commissioners’ room is located on the north side of the courthouse behind the grand staircase. When the original large courtroom on the second story was damaged by a December 1985 arson fire, it was split into two. Both courts are identical except in orientation: Superior Court is oriented with the judge’s bench to the north, and Circuit Court to the south. The building houses the County Circuit Court and County Superior Court of the 25th Judicial District. The building was remodeled after a fire in 1985. The architect was Donovan & Donovan, Associates, Inc. of Vincennes.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Daviess County Courthouse
See: The 25th Judicial District includes Dubois County, Knox County. Martin County, Perry County, Pike County and Spencer County.
History: The county was created in 1816 and Washington was selected as the county seat in 1817. The first court met at the home of Alexander Bruce until 1825 when the first courthouse was completed by Judge James G Reed at a cost of $2979. Construction had started in 1818. The second courthouse was built in 1841 with brickwork completed by Lewis Jones in 1838 at a cost of $3,776. The third courthouse was designed by George W Bunting and constructed by McCormick & Sweeney in 1879 at a cost of $88,021. The building was damaged by fire in 1891 and was destroyed by fire in 1927. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 198 to 1929 at a cost of $317,136.
County Courthouse – Washington
Photos taken 2008