Leesburg, Virginia, USA

Odds and Evens, Ones and Twos, Singles and Doubles, Which one be You? Here's a couple of attorneys in their native habitat: right in front of the county courthouse. The setting: Leesburg, seat of Loudoun County. Yes, it was named after the family that gave us the Civil War general. [2016]

Clarinda, Iowa, USA

♫ These Are a Few of My Favorite Things ♫ ~ Courthouses: There are over 3000 counties in the U.S., and each one has a county courthouse. County seats like Clarinda generally use their courthouses to brag about their past, their ideals, and their quality of life. They do this with eye-catching architecture and a plethora of memorials. [2019]

Washington Court House, Ohio, USA

County seats are places where ideals are expressed in architecture, where justice is meted out impartially, where even the tyranny of time falls beneath the law, where patriotism and local loyalties are on display, where service in the armed forces is memorialized, and where history is made and marked. [2016]

Pomeroy, Washington, USA

The Garfield County courthouse assures all citizens of equal justice under the law. Elevated even higher than Lord Chronos (see the clock?) is a statue of Justice. Under her feet are the court rooms where her will is done. Outside is a Civil War soldier. Did anyone else expect it to be President Garfield? [2019]

Flemingsburg, Kentucky, USA

Seats of government, including county seats, are supposed to inspire confidence in the law. How is that achieved? In the case of courthouses, with elevation. First, the bell tower makes you look up to the law. Second, the ascending staircase lifts you off Main Street and puts you down in an Athenian temple, a reminder of the ancients who invented democracy. [2017]

Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

It could be a church, but there is no cross on top. Even the library-in-a-box (not to mention the Romanesque shell) suggests a place of worship. Whoever had this built wanted to be taken as seriously as God-fearing Christians take God. They even wanted to lift your eyes to the heavens with that steeple. Sorry, 'tower.' Think it might be a county courthouse? [2019]

Dalhart, Texas, USA

How do you tell a story about violence against women? You use the county courthouse to symbolize the law and silhouettes to symbolize individual women who were killed by their "intimate partners." The story of each is told in the outline maps they wear as broaches. [2018]

Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

Feeling faint? Or peering through a pane of colonial glass? Along Duke of Gloucester Street, the right answer must be the latter. And, it might offer some insight into our sense of history. We never see the past with the clarity we imagine; it is always imperfect and distorted (just like our memories). The distorted building here is Virginia's colonial courthouse. [2018]

Toledo, Illinois, USA

Toledo is the county seat of Cumberland County. It's central square is occupied by the county courthouse and a gazebo. In the former, the hormone secreted is cortisol (associated with anxiety); in the latter, the hormones secreted are endorphins (associated with happiness). Welcome to the marriage of two different hormonal spaces. [2017]

Wahoo, Nebraska, USA

Wahoo is the county seat of Saunders County. The county courthouse might be the only one in the country with a full-size torpedo out front. It's a memorial to the USS Wahoo, one of the most famous submarines of World War II. When it ran out of torpedoes, it surfaced and kept on fighting. Then, it was sunk in the strait between Japan and Russia. [2009]

Kermit, Texas, USA

Kermit is the county seat of Winkler County. In the 1980s (my first pass-through), the population was dropping at a double-digit rate and the future looked bleak. Today, the population is growing at a double-digit rate and the courthouse never looked prouder. If you want to know what's changed, see what you can find out about the Permian Basin. [2018]

Columbia, Tennessee, USA

Maury County Courthouse: The three branches of government are set up for law-making, law administering, and law adjudicating. Why has the the executive branch (White House) come to symbolize the federal government, the legislative branch (state house) the state government, and the judicial branch (courthouse) the local government? [2010]

Lockhart, Texas, USA

Caldwell County Courthouse: The county courthouse generally occupies a prime site, a square, in the middle of town, separated from (and more imposing than) the commercial district which surrounds it. Its cupola commands everyone's attention, and its lawn hosts the community's collective memory. What do you make of the symbolism? [2009]

Franklin, West Virginia, USA

Pendleton County Courthouse: Enter the county courthouse with the same reverence as you would enter a Greek temple. Architecture is one way to pay homage to history. Placing a historical marker in front of the courthouse is another way. Ready for a surprise? Franklin was not named after a famous Ben, but its founder Francis Evick. Really? [2014]

Somerset, Pennsylvania, USA

Somerset County Courthouse: The very first subdivisions of England's colonies in America were called shires, but by the 1600s shire was giving way to the French counte, or county. Every county, however, continued to have a shire-reeve. Just ask the Sheriff of Somerset County, whose title might as well be the Count of Somerset County. [2010]

Mount Pulaski, Illinois, USA

Old Logan County Courthouse: A country lawyer named Abraham Lincoln (see him?) worked the Illinois Eighth Circuit and tried many cases in this courthouse. The county seat was moved out of Mount Pulaski in 1855, but the spirit of Lincoln remained behind and guaranteed the survival of a building that was otherwise insignificant. [2015]

Xenia, Ohio, USA

Greene County Courthouse: The Ten Commandments on public property? Does its presence violate the separation between church and state? Or, does it simply recognize a foundation of the law as it has come down to us from ancient times? [2013]

Columbia, Missouri, USA

Boone County Courthouse: The United States has 3,144 counties and county equivalents. The administrative hub of each is a courthouse. Memorials to the war dead are found on the grounds of most. Here, tablets of names honor the dead of the Civil War and the World War 1917-1918. [2015]

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

The Old St. Louis County Courthouse was built in 1828. It is remarkably similar to the Helsinki Cathedral which was built starting in 1830 and finishing in 1852. When the dome on the courthouse was put up in 1861, the architecture became even more similar. How do you explain such comparability given the 5,000 miles that separate Helsinki and St. Louis? [2015]

Sevierville, Tennessee, USA

Who is that steel magnolia making a joyful noise outside the Sevier County Courthouse? Her shift lasts from 9 to 5 every day, but she is so devoted she sticks around all night: probably in an effort to be named Miss Congeniality. From that perch, this unlikely angel will celebrate a Smokey Mountain Christmas in just a few months. Join her for a little straight talk. [2009]