Monticello, Indiana April 3, 1974
The following pictures are from the book "Killer Tornado" published by the Monticello Herald Journal. If you use any of the pictures or or text please give them credit. All photos are thumb nailed.

The book is Divided into 5 pages. the major headings are as following: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Moments after it Hit Business District Sustained Major Damage   Before After   Homes Destroyed   Students Continue Studies at Various Churches Shocked Residents Unite to Help Others   Monticello Homes Ravaged Years Needed to  Restore Town National Home Badly Battered   Churches, Cemeteries Ravaged Damaged Estimated at $100 Million   monticelloin_page2 $500,000 Damage to Penn-Central Bridge Housing Addition  Nearly Leveled   Local Groups, Outsiders offered help to Victims. People organize Rescue, Search Operations Fort Wayne Girl Survives Van's Plunge Courthouse History Rich, Full Hickory Ridge Area in Tornado's Path   Officials Offer Help Homes, Churches, Schools, Businesses were touched by twister monticelloin_page2 122-year-old  Bell Survives Many Left Homeless   People Pick up the Pieces   Local Businesses Give Evidence to Twister's Destructive Power   Courthouse Activities  move to National Guard Armory Farms Hit Monticelloan's Begin Salvage, Repair, Removal   Twin Lakes Totaled Schools Meet with  Disaster Downtown Monticello will Rise Again... Bigger, Better different and More Beautiful Than Ever Before

Before

Years Needed to Restore Town

$500,000 Damage to Penn-Central Bridge

Courthouse History Rich, Full

This sketch illustrates the first tow White County Courthouses, the initial one being shown in the upper left corner.

The earliest was a wood-framed structure which, according to "History of White County," was located "just a few doors" south of the current courthouse on South Main Street.
Contracts on the first courthouse were let to an $800 low bidder and construction began in 1836.
Like the third courthouse, which stands today in a dam- aged condition due to Monticello's April 3 tornado, the first was felled by "a violent wind" when construction was nearing completion.
It was rebuilt and finished in the summer of 1837. According to the county's history book, the "violent wind some- what interfered with original architectural plans, and the final courthouse was not exactly as intended."
It did, however, serve as headquarters for county government until the brick building was completed after three years' construction in 1851 at a cost of $8,000.
The long delay in erecting the county's second court- house was caused by a "prolonged cholera scare" in which Monticello residents believed the area around the courthouse construction site had been infected, since the contractor's young daughter died from unidentified causes.

During the scare, "county records were moved to the Presbyterian Church, as far away from the infected district as possible; merchants locked their stores and, with their families, went to the country; business was entirely suspended, and for two months Monticello was almost deserted."
After 43 years of service, the brick courthouse was torn down to make way for the Bedford limestone structure (below) at the same site on Monticello's public square.
Cornerstone ceremonies for the new building were held on August 16, 1894, and the 88 x lOS-foot building was ready for occupancy one year later.
Construction cost $70,000 with another $30,000 spent on furnishings. LaBelle and French of Marion, Ind., were the architects.
Of note is the memorabilia which was placed in a stone at the southeast corner; included was "one cent-a day's wages."
Fate of the 80-year-old courthouse is not yet known, but, if a fourth one must be built, then it will probably be on the same downtown site as its predecessors.

122-year-old Bell Survives

One of the few items which was not damaged or lost in the courthouse was an old bronze bell-an antique which for over 100 years has served as the official timekeeper for many of Monticello's residents.
The 122-year-old White County prize was found during the tornado debris clean-up operations on the first floor inside the building's southeast corner. Even though it fell 108 feet from its perch in the tower, no crack or major damage to it was discovered.
It was taken to the White County Highway Department's headquarters at Reynolds, where it will be stored until plans for the courthouse are determined.
Cast In New York
After being cast in the Meneelys Foundry, West Troy, New York, in 1852, White County's bell was transported here primarily through that era's canal system.
The bell came down the Hudson to Albany, N.Y., then by the Erie Canal to Buffalo, N. Y. and by Lake Erie to Toledo, Ohio. It was then taken over the Wabash River and Erie Canal to Lockport, Indiana, and hauled by wagon to Monticello.
It was originally in the county's second courthouse and then transferred to the present one.
 

Courthouse Activities move to National Guard Armory