A significant symbol
of Mansfield's early settlement, the original Mansfield Block House was built in the fall
of 1812 to provide protection from possible Indian attack during the War of 1812. From
1813 to 1816 it functioned as Richland County's first courthouse. This building is a
commemorative structure built in the fall of 1906 for the 1908 Mansfield Centennial
Exhibition. The building is significant in terms of the city's military history and early
settlement. The upper two-thirds of the first story of this building came from the
original 1812 Block House, and the second floor came from a log house built in 1821. After
the Centennial, the Block House stood for many years on a site adjacent to the Richland
County Courthouse, before being moved in 1929 to its present site in South Park.
