Side A: As Morgan’s Raiders rode eastward across southern Ohio during the third week of July 1863, the scattered defensive forces pursuing him consolidated and drew closer. Four regiments under Brigadier General Eliakim P. Scammon (including the 23rd Ohio, containing future U.S. Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley Jr.) arrived here by steamboat on July 18, preventing Morgan from entering Pomeroy. Brigadier General Henry Moses Judah’s division also arrived in Pomeroy on July 18, immediately marching east following Morgan. Following Morgan’s defeat at Buffington Island on July 19, both Judah and Brigadier General Edward H. Hobson returned to Pomeroy and headquartered at the Grand Dilcher Hotel. Of the approximately 900 Confederate prisoners captured in Meigs County, 227 were held here at the courthouse before being sent downriver to Cincinnati.
Side B: Meigs County was formed in 1819 from parts of Washington, Athens, and Gallia counties, with its first county seat at Middleport. The county seat moved to Chester in 1823 and to Pomeroy in 1841. Obtaining the Scioto County Courthouse plans for $15, the commissioners built the new courthouse as a twin to the Portsmouth structure at a cost of $5,200. Now surrounded by later additions, it was completed in 1848. The Greek Revival courthouse was extensively remodeled in 1877 by adding the flanking wings, spiral stairways, columns, and a two-story portico capped with a bracketed cornice in the Italianate style. The street level was lowered and the basement level excavated to provide three full stories. Each floor is accessible by a ground level entrance.
Sponsors: The Meigs County Historical Society, Meigs County Commissioners, Ohio Travel and Tourism, and The Ohio Historical Society
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