Niewerth Building One of the buildings in Delphi’s downtown Historic District is the Niewerth Building at the corner of Main and Union streets. It was placed on the National Register in 1984. Comet photo by Jennifer Archibald Anita Werling of the Delphi Preservation Society led a walking tour Sunday of the Delphi Courthouse Square Historic District, which was named to the National Register of Historic Places this year.

The Historic District includes 43 buildings around the courthouse square and into the surrounding commercial blocks.

As the group walked through the district, Werling related its history and pointed out architectural and design elements, all of which contributed to the district’s eligibility for National Register designation.

Significant events in Delphi’s history, according to Werling, included the establishment of Delphi as the county seat in 1828, the building of the Wabash and Erie Canal through the area (reaching Delphi in 1840), and the introduction of the first railroad through Delphi in 1856.

Anita Werling, pictured, led a walk through the Delphi Courthouse Square Historic District on Sunday. In the background is the Carroll County Courthouse, which was built in 1916-1917 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. Comet photo by Jennifer Archibald Werling said the oldest building in the district is the Bolles building, 114-117 South Washington Street (present Antique Mall), built in 1851.

Werling named early merchants as well as listed many of the businesses that occupied the buildings throughout their history. She mentioned the New York Store, Philadelphia Store, as well as shoe stores, furniture and hardware stores, liveries, saloons, hotels, movie theaters, a veterinary practice, and others. Two businesses which have a long-standing family history in Delphi are Delphi Body Works and Bradshaw Insurance.

Diebold Most of the ground-level storefronts have changed considerably over the years, but there are a few exceptions, such as the Ives & Ives law office on West Franklin.

The square is a commercial district, but there is one building known as the lone “house on the square.” It is located on Market Street and is the only surviving old building on the west side of the square. It is a private home, owned by Claudann Brooks Burks, daughter of Ann Doerr Brooks, who had her home and hair salon there from 1962-1997.

Most of the tour was spent looking up, at the buildings’ second and third stories.

“It is very unusual for a community our size to have three-story buildings on its square – and particularly unusual to see the height of the third-floor windows,” Werling said. “Delphi also is fortunate to have so many buildings from its defining era still intact.”

Of the 43 buildings in the district bound- aries, 31 are listed as contributing to the architectural significance of the whole. Werling said that is a high percentage, compared

to many other historic districts.

Most of the buildings in the historic district are Italianate style. Werling pointed out that there are only two frame buildings in the district. One is Sassy’s building on North Washington Street, and the other is the two-story building next to Johns Liquor Store on West Main.

Paul Diebold of Indiana DNR’s Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology accompanied the group on the walk and provided additional comments.

He noted that the four public buildings in the district are of comparable style. He said the courthouse and library are neoclassical; the former Delphi Armory, now the City Building and fire department, is Romanesque with classical influence; and the post office is classical. The post office is the newest of the contributing buildings in the district. It was built in 1936.

Concrete parging covers the original brick on some of the buildings in the district. Diebold said he believes the parging was an effort at modernization and for aesthetic reasons at the time rather than a restoration measure. Werling added that the parging was done before 1906.

Diebold and Werling pointed out special decorative elements such as terra cotta tiles and medallions. These can be seen at 114-116 West Main (above Calico Plus), in the Centennial Block at 113-115 East Main, and on the Odd Fellows building at 102 East Main.

The Odd Fellows building (corner of East Main and South Washington) formerly had a Second Empire mansard roof and cupola, but they were destroyed in a fire in 1955. Werling also mentioned a number of other fires in the district throughout the years.

Several organizations and societies have met in the upper levels of some of the buildings over the years. Werling said there was a skating rink on the third flood of the Swegman building, 209-211 South Washington, between the Odd Fellows building and the old Masonic Lodge. She also mentioned the mineral baths in the 1890s in what is now the Times Past building.

Some of those who went on the tour are owners of buildings in the district, had worked in the district at one time, or had family members who had been in business around the square.

Other local historians who contributed information during the walk were Bonnie Maxwell and Mark Smith.

Many more details about the history of the courthouse square, the surrounding commercial blocks, and nearby neighborhoods, along with many photos, can be found in the book, “Delphi,” by Werling and Maxwell.