The courthouse with a statue that had 25 bullet holes

The Clarion County Courthouse and Jail is a historic site located in Clarion, Pennsylvania. The current courthouse was built between 1883 and 1885 as a 3 1/2-story brick Victorian structure with Classical details, measuring 78 feet, 8 inches wide and 134 feet deep. It features a 213-foot tall, 25-foot square clock tower. Behind the courthouse stands a jail built between 1873 and 1875, constructed of half brick and half sandstone.

Two earlier brick courthouses stood on this site; the first was completed in 1843 and the second in 1863. Both were destroyed by fire, with the second courthouse burning down on September 12, 1882. Sixteen contractors bid to construct the current building with prices ranging from $88,370 to $135,000. P. H. Melvin won the bid, but he was removed as contractor on January 27, 1885, and replaced by three bondsmen. The total completed cost of the courthouse was $126,936. Melvin later sued the county for $40,000 for failure to comply with contracted conditions.

The building was designed by architect E.M. Butz and supervising architect D. English. The interior features frescos painted by Henry Warner and floor tiling from the Star Encaustic Tile Company of Pittsburgh. The Howard Clock Company of New York supplied a 9-foot diameter clock dial and a 1313-pound bell. A galvanized iron sculpture of the Lady of Justice stands 9 feet, 11 inches tall on top of the clock tower.

Over the years, the building received gas illumination in 1889 and electric lighting in 1923. A complete electrical re-wiring occurred in 1977, followed by a complete exterior renovation in 1981. During the 1981 restoration, the Lady of Justice statue, which had about 25 bullet holes and a missing left arm, was restored with a fiberglass coating. The restored statue now weighs 250 pounds. The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons