Wells County is named for William A. Wells, who was captured by Native Americans as a young boy and became a scout for Anthony Wayne.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Allen County
E – Adams County
S – Jay County and Blackford County
W – Grant County and Huntington County
Created: February 7, 1835
County Seat:
Bluffton 1837 – present
County Courthouse – Bluffton
Location: 102 West Market Street / South Main Street
Built: 1889 – 1891
Style: Romanesque
Architect: George W Bunting of Indianapolis
Contractor: Christian Boseker of Fort Wayne.
Description: The building faces north and is a three story buff colored stone and concrete structure. The central entrance has five stone arches at the first story. On the northeast corner is a five story stone tower with clock. The west section of the building extends north from the main building. The junction of the wall with the ground plane is further emphasized by the course of rock-faced white colored limestone at the base of the walls; above this the brick walls are faced entirely with a veneer of buff-colored Michigan Stoney Point sandstone. In the interior, the woodwork used in the halls and throughout the building is made of wide sections of golden oak. The County Circuit Court courtroom occupies the west wing of the third story, and is the most elaborate of the interior spaces. The window enframements are capped with foliated capitals carved in deep relief. The twenty-four foot height of the walls is visually reduced, by the use of a marble wainscoting identical to that found in the halls, and a plaster cornice whose location ten feet beneath the ceiling separates the windows from the semi-circular lights directly above them. The bench is situated at the center of the south end of the room, with the area directly before the bench separated from the rows of spectator benches by a low oak rail with stout round spindles and massive square posts which are topped by round globed gaslights. The small County Superior Court courtroom is located on the east side of the third story. The building houses the County Circuit Court and the County Superior Court of the 9th Judicial District.
See: The architect, George W Bunting of Indianapolis, also designed courthouses in Clinton County, Greene County, Johnson County, Montgomery County and Union County.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Wells County Courthouse
See: The 9th Judicial District includes Adams County, Huntington County and Wabash County.
History: The county was created in 1837 and Bluffton was selected as the county seat. The first court met at the home of R C Bennett in 1837. The first courthouse was a two story log structure built by David Whitman in 1840 at a cost of $193. The second courthouse was a Greek Revival structure designed by George W Webster and built in 1845 at a cost of $5,000. The third and present courthouse was constructed in 1889 to 1891 at a cost of $140,000.
County Courthouse – Bluffton
County Superior Court courtroom
County Circuit Court courtroom
Photos taken 2008 and 2025
Images 20*