Clay County was formed by the Indiana General Assembly in 1825 and named for national statesman Henry Clay. Its first county seat was at Bowling Green, where it had three courthouses: the first, built in 1827, was a two-story log structure, and the second and third, built in 1839-1840 and 1852-1853, were two-story brick buildings. After a fourth courthouse was completed in Brazil in 1876, the county seat moved there in 1877. The fifth courthouse, designed by John W. Gaddis of Vincennes in the Classical Revival style, was built of limestone in 1912-1914 and included a stained-glass skylight in the central rotunda, marble wainscoting, granite columns, and inlaid tile floors. The skylight was restored and four tower clocks were installed in 1986, and the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.