ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Ohio Channel is making short documentaries about each of the 88 county courthouses across the state, to be aired in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026.

The documentarians got an early start and stopped by Belmont County in January to conduct interviews about the historic structure that stands in the county seat of St. Clairsville.

Belmont County Recorder Jason Garczyk was among the local residents who sat down for an interview.

“They’re doing stories on all the courthouses individually, and they came seeking information about our courthouse. They wanted some history on it, and of course the county’s history that goes along with that,” he said.

Garczyk spoke about Joseph W. Yost, the architect who designed the courthouse that was built between 1185 and 1888, adding that he was a prominent figure with local ties and built several other courthouses. His other projects include the Harrison, Guernsey and Holmes county courthouses.

“He was born in Clarington, grew up in Bellaire and ended up eventually going to Columbus with his practice and actually ended up building buildings in New York City,” he said.

Garczyk mentioned Belmont County’s “sister courthouse” in Miami County in the city of Troy.

“Built by the same architect at the same time and it’s the same style. The biggest difference is our courthouse has only two original entrances,” he said. “That one has four.

The Belmont County Courthouse is a three-story building in the Second Empire style. It is built of rusticated sandstone with high, arched windows, Corinthian columns and a statue of Justice above the entrance.

Inside, there are three courtrooms, one of which is now a law library, and several offices. Corridor floors feature tile mosaics, and the central dome has been covered but is now surrounded by lights. Extensive renovations and restorations have been completed over the years.

“One of the things I appreciate most about our courthouse is it sits on one of the more higher points of our county and so it’s visible from so many different points in our county,” Garczyk said. “From where I grew up in Maynard, you can see the courthouse from out there. There’s even parts of Harrison and Jefferson County where you can see our courthouse, it’s so high up.

“Building a structure like this is something the people can be proud of. It’s their building. It stands for justice and service to the public, and to have such a monumental structure, especially right here in St. Clairsville, is pretty neat.”

Garczyk said the interview itself was done in the Belmont County Heritage Museum, situated next to the courthouse on Main Street in St. Clairsville. The museum originally served as the sheriff’s residence. The documentary crew will come back in the spring to take footage of the courthouse and its courtrooms.

Historian John S. Marshall also spoke about the courthouse and its key placement on National Road.

“They also asked what impressed me most about the courthouse. I said its ornateness, the woodwork and things like that,” he said. “The courthouse was built in 1888, the current courthouse, and the former courthouse was built in, I think, 1815, which would have been 10 years before ground was broke on the National Road.”

Dan Frizzi, an attorney from Bellaire and a local historian, talked about the controversy between 1870 and 1880 surrounding where the courthouse would be located.

“The controversy centered around a desire to have the courthouse removed to Bellaire in Pultney Township from St. Clairsville,” Frizzi said. “The courthouse was originally in Pultney (Township), in a little place called Avondale, and the first court seat of justice was actually held in Pultney Township, and that was prior to the state of Ohio being organized in 1803.”

He said after the state came into existence, the legislature passed a statute requiring an investigation into the best place in Belmont County for the seat of justice. The commission would recommend the seat of justice be removed from Pultney Township to St. Clairsville, which was called Newellstown at the time but was renamed St. Clairsville in honor of Arthur St. Clair, a Revolutionary War general and former governor of the Northwest Territory.

“The National Road was to come through St. Clairsville, so that was probably a central and good location,” Frizzi said. “But by the 1850s and ’60s, railroads had come into Belmont County and bypassed St. Clairsville, and there began to be a discussion about moving the county seat to a place where there would be railroad connections, and of course Bellaire was the center of the railroad connections in Belmont County.”

He said there were petitions presented to all parts of the county, requesting the matter be put on the ballot.

“The matter was finally brought up in the Ohio Legislature, and it failed by, I think, two or three votes, so there never was a vote taken by the residents of Belmont County,” he said.

Frizzi noted that the stone from which the courthouse is built came from a quarry just west of Bellare. He added that he anticipates seeing the documentary.

“I think everybody in Belmont County is looking forward to seeing what they produce,” he said.

Belmont County Tourism Director Jackee Pugh also gave an interview. She hopes the video will bring more attention to Belmont County.

“The courthouse is such an iconic symbol of Belmont County,” she said. “You can see it from so far away, and being right on the National Road in the historic downtown St. Clairsville district, it absolutely brings tourism with people wanting to see the beautiful architecture and then explore throughout the National Road.”

The Ohio Channel can be found at ohiochannel.org.