Delphi's Courthouse Square Historic District
is Now on the National Register of Historic Places!
On March 31, 2010, the Delphi Courthouse Square Historic District was approved
for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Delphi's rich architectural merit has resulted in the nomination to the National Register of Historic Places for the Courthouse Square Historic District including the blocks immediately surrounding the public square and extending east to include the City Building and Delphi Public Library. Forty-three buildings are included within the boundaries, many dating from the 1850s through the 1870s. Within the district are three buildings previously listed individually on the National Register: the 1864 Old Delphi City Hall and Opera House, the 1874 Niewerth building, and the 1916 Carroll County Courthouse. Of the forty-three buildings within the district, thirty-one are listed as "contributing" and only twelve as "non-contributing." This is an unusually high percentage of contributing structures.

The nomination has been a lengthy process since its beginnings in 2007 when Delphi Main Street and Delphi Preservation Society cosponsored a grant application to Indiana Main Street. The grant was to provide an intern from Ball State University's Center for Historic Preservation for the purpose of researching the buildings and preparing the District nomination. Over the next several months, the intern worked in conjunction with the State Preservation Office to determine the district boundaries and to detail the architectural styles and integrity of the buildings. The Center for Historic Preservation at Ball State University submitted the nomination to the State Historic Preservation Office in December, 2007.

In April 2008, staff from Ball State University met with property owners to discuss the what listing on the National Register would mean to them. At the meeting, hosted by the Oddfellows in their historic 1880 building, tax credits and other incentives were reviewed along with the fact that no restrictions on placed on property owners by virtue of being on the National Register.

Following that meeting in 2008, the nomination hit a snag. New photographic image requirements had been adopted which required that the photographs submitted with the Delphi Courthouse Square nomination be redone. Revised imagery was submitted in mid-2009 and the nomination was submitted for substantive reviews. In the course of the review several buildings were upgraded from non-contributing to contributing status and the boundary was extended to include the library. A revised map and changes were completed to the nomination by Ball State in late 2009 and the nomination scheduled for review at the quarterly meeting in January 2010. On January 27, 2010, Courthouse Square Historic District was given State Register status and on March 31, 2010 was approved for the National Register of Historic Places.