LEBANON — Once, it dispensed justice to a young Warren County. Today, it dispenses hope.

        Last year, the former Warren County Courthouse, 300 E. Silver St., was remodeled into multiple offices to help people learn how to seek jobs, increase their skills, better their education, and to encourage personal and financial growth.

        When it was built in the early 19th century, the Warren County Courthouse was a showplace of justice. Its large courtroom on the second floor was filled with rich woods. Outside, the big pillars welcomed everyone from governors to common citizens.

        Despite its beauty, it was also the center of one of the county's more acrimonious elections in the late 1800s.

        The courthouse's second life began in the 1970s, when Warren County was growing and changing.

        Growth required a new, larger courthouse, and officials built the Warren County Justice Center. The modern, one-story facility was a total contrast to the old courthouse. The center even featured a bomb-proof basement communications center.

        Lacking a purpose, the old courthouse became the home to various offices. But in the late 1990s, officials came up with an interesting concept: renovate the historic building — a big part of Lebanon's architectural and civic history — for use as a job center.

        Today, the first floor features a large resource center, which contains pamphlets, books, computers and informational material on everything from jobs to local organizations. The center is open to the public.

        A variety of agencies offer employment training, veterans services,, literacy training and other services in the old courthouse. The University of Cincinnati keeps offices on the second floor.

        “The old courthouse is a one-stop employment center,” said Mark Paduk, who runs the UC Center. “It's a great idea, and it gives new purpose to the old building.”

        During the four-year renovation, which cost $2.4 million, workers uncovered gold-leaf-lettered doors that had been hidden for decades behind false walls. They also uncovered original stenciling on the courtroom walls and charred beams caused by a fire more than a century ago.

        According to Mary Payne of the Warren County Historical Society Museum, the old courthouse was completed in 1835 and remodeled several times, including in 1890.

        “The steeple was replaced by a round dome that's there today,” she said. “The courthouse looks much the same as it did in those days.”

        By then, Lebanon had already enjoyed a long history of justice in Warren County. It was named the county seat by the Ohio legislature in 1805.

        But challenges came along the way.

        In 1879, Warren County commissioners asked voters to approve a tax to build a new courthouse. Morrow residents opposed the plan, saying the community that benefits from a new courthouse — Lebanon — should pay for it. In fact, Morrow offered to pay for a new courthouse through private donations, if it could be built in Morrow.

        That April, county voters rejected the courthouse tax proposal, and again that October. Then Morrow officials petitioned the Ohio legislature to move the county seat from Lebanon to Morrow, noting that Morrow was at the junction of two railroads.

        Morrow's plan started a countywide disagreement over the future location of the courthouse. Sensing trouble, Lebanon officials informed the legislature that their community was advantageous as the county seat because of its central location in the county. Lebanon urged the commissioners to repair the existing courthouse, which they did.

        When the legislature voted against Morrow's request, both towns' fates were set for the next century.

        As for the old courthouse, only its purpose has changed.

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