As a member of the Leadership Team for the North District of the Indiana United Methodist Church, I had reason to travel to Laporte this morning for a team meeting.
Laporte is the county seat of Laporte County. As I am a fan of county courthouses, I took time to walk around the Laporte County Courthouse and enjoy its architecture.
The building was constructed of red sandstone in 1872. It has very articulated triangular peaks. The tower rises very high above the top story of the building. One can see the tower for miles away.
It is a beautiful building. The rectangular windows are topped with semi-circular panes with attractive design embedded into them.
The historic identifier in front of the building states that the architecture is of Richardsonian Romanesque design. Not being a student of architecture, I visited Wikipedia for a description...
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson.
On the one side of the building, I believe north, there stands a sculpture of a Potawatomi warrior with a broken spear. The broken spear communicates "peace". This sculpture by Howard A. Demyer, was set in 1976 as part of our country"s bicentennial celebration.
If you travel through Laporte and are a fan of history, take a few minutes to enjoy this courthouse. I may have to go back someday when it is open for business to see the inside.
Oh yes, the meeting was productive also.
