CIVICS · HISTORICAL MARKER
First Putnam County Government Seat / Court Houses
Civics
On February 19, 1829, an appointed Ohio Legislative Commission granted one hundred sixty acres of the southwest quarter of Section 5, Town 1 south, range 6 east for a government seat to Commissioners Thomas Gray, William Priddy, and Samuel Myers, Sr. On May 5, 1834, at the Abraham Sarber home, William Cochran, Henry Morris, and Silas McClish became associate judges; Daniel W. Gray, clerk; Amos Evans, prosecuting attorney; Abraham Sarber, town director; Ferdinand C. Fitch, surveyor; and Samuel Myers, Sr., John Cochran, Isaac Owens, A.E. Martin, James Nichols, and Daniel W. Gray, school examiners. Moses Lee bought the first lot in Kalida on June 24, 1834, and Sheldon Guthrie built the first frame house where the first store was established. In 1834, Surveyor Ferdinand C. Fitch, Daniel Ridenour, Henry Myers, and Samuel Myers, Sr., platted Kalida, “the Beautiful,” at the confluence of Plum and Sugar creeks. The sale of an additional one hundred sixty acres purchased by Putnam County Commissioners paid for construction of a frame Court House and a log jail in 1835. In 1839, a brick Court House was built on Inlot 69 at 125 East Main Street, Kalida, and a brick jail was constructed on lots 149-150 at 202 East North Street, Kalida. On December 18, 1864, the brick Court House burned beyond repair, and a 485-vote majority on October 9, 1866, made Ottawa the county seat.
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