Cuyahoga County is named for the Cuyahoga River which means “crooked river” in the Iroquoian language.
Created: June 7, 1807
County Seat:
Cleveland 1807 – present
County Courthouse – Cleveland
Location: 1 West Lakeside Drive / Ontario Street
Built: 1905 – 1912
Style: Beaux Arts
Architect: Israel J Lehman and Theodore Schmitt of Cleveland
Contractor: Andrew Dall and Son
Description: The building faces south and is a three story stone and concrete structure. The exterior is Milford pink granite from Massachusetts. The rusticated masonry of the ground floor includes deeply recessed and arched windows and doors. A protruding keystone tops each one. The east front has a large projecting center section with three arched entrances on the first story and six columns on the second and third stories with three large arched windows. Along the top of the header are six stone statues of historical law givers with pediment rising above the roof line. Two of these figures, of Edward I and John Hampden, were sculpted by Daniel Chester French. The frieze of the cornice includes the inscription “Cuyahoga County Courthouse”. The rear elevation facing Lake Erie is composed similarly, but with the inscription “Liberty is Obedience to Law”. A balustrade runs along the flat roof line. The architect was Israel J Lehman and Theodore Schmitt and the contractor was Andrew Dall and Son. The front entrance is flanked by bronze statues of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton sculpted by Karl Bitter. The interior design was completed by Charles N Schweinfurth.
Note: The building houses the Ohio Court of Appeals – Eighth Appellate District in room 202.
See: The architect, Israel J Lehman and Theodore Schmitt of Cleveland, designed the old courthouse in Kentucky in Fayette County.
Courthouses:
N – Lake Erie and Ontario, Canada
E – Lake County and Geauga County
S – Summit County and Medina County
W – Lorain County
Photos taken 2010