The Art Deco courthouse the oil boom helped build

Gladwin’s courthouse is tied to the county’s 1930s oil boom. The Buildings of Michigan record says oil brought people and money into the county during the Great Depression. When the state returned crude-oil severance-tax revenue for a local public purpose, all sixteen county supervisors agreed to build a new courthouse.

Frederick D. Madison designed the 1939 building. It is reinforced concrete faced with light yellow-brown brick, with the strong symmetry and flat roof of the Art Deco era. Stone panels show lumbering, farming, dairying, oil production, hunting, and skiing. Township names run around the base, and the lobby floor includes an inlaid Native American head. Charles C. Englehardt built it.

An addition designed by Irvin Hacker followed in 1980. That date matters because older summaries sometimes blur the original architect and the later work. Madison belongs to the 1939 courthouse; Hacker belongs to the addition.

This is still a working courthouse at 401 West Cedar Avenue, not a museum. The 55th Circuit Court operates there. If county business takes you inside, notice the lobby floor after you clear security. If you are only curious about the building, the carved exterior panels tell much of the story from the sidewalk.