Connersville is the county seat of Fayette county and has a population of around 16,000. It is a very old town for this area, John Connor a trader with the Indians first came to what is now Connersville in 1808 and laid the town out 1813. There are still a decent number of very old homes here and a good number of old buildings. There is an old feeling there considering this day and age and I love it.
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Fayette County Courthouse
This is a view looking north-northwest of the old Fayette County courthouse, the new part added about four years ago is toward the left. Parts of the second courthouse built in 1849 still exist as it was added to and changed through the years. The old courthouse was drastically changed in 1890 to it’s general appearance of the present.
Courthouse Tower Detail
The way I understand it, the county commissioners were undecided as to how to add to or change the style of the courthouse again. Of the five different ways to go with a courthouse change, I give them a score of 2 out of a possible 5 as to an esthetic and historical viewpoint. This is based on what I wish to see when visiting a county seat and is as follows: 5-Original, connected by unseen means to another original or new building. 4-Original with an alternate use. 3-Joined to a new building in the same style. 2-Joined with a modern style building. 1-Demolished and replaced.
Richmond is an example of #5. Crown Point is an example of #4. Martinsville is an example of #3. Connersville is a #2. And of course there are too many that would grouped in the #1 classification.
Old Jail
The old jail probably built in the 1870′s or 80′s. It sits across from the courthouse.
400 North Central Avenue
We will start our tour of the old buildings in Connersville with this fine old building which sits across from the courthouse on the eastern side of Central Avenue. We will continue northeast on Central and then cross over to the western side and then work our way back to the courthouse.
The Connersville Examiner building can be seen to the left in this view. I took a photo but since the ground floor facade has been mutilated I am not including it.
This photo was taken on the afternoon of September 25, 2010 when there was good sunlight.
Old Italianate Commercial Building
I like this old building with the numerous windows and half of the lower facade near original. It sits north of the Connersville Examiner building and was the only complete building facade on Central Avenue that I could get on May 15th because of the craft show that went for several blocks. After capturing my morning shots, I sat on a concrete step just to the right of this photo and waited for the afternoon sun. It was supposed to be sunny according to the weather forecasters but the dark clouds moved in before I could get any afternoon shots. It wasn’t a complete waste though, I have a good number of photos to show of Connersville.
400 Block of North Central Avenue - North Half
Across the alley from the Italianate commercial building shown above is the northern half of the 400 block of Central Avenue on the eastern side.
Fayette Bank & Trust Company
I did some elimination work on this photo to make for a better view.
600 Block of North Central Ave Eastern Side
This photo and the two above were taken on September 25, 2010 and late in the afternoon. There was no festival in the way and next to no traffic.
600 Block of North Central Avenue
A closer look at the buildings I will be showing closeup views of.
600 North Central Avenue
An interesting building even though the lower facade has been changed.