THPA President Ben Sutherly inside a portion of the IOOF Building, formerly known as the Tavern Building, that used to serve as the Miami County Courthouse. The room was re-purposed by the IOOF for use as a ceremonial space.
Matt Clevenger | Miami Valley Today
A large room on the second floor of the IOOF Building was used for entertainment. The upstairs of the building has been unoccupied since approximately 1939.
Matt Clevenger | Miami Valley Today
A ticket window located on the second floor of the IOOF Building.
Matt Clevenger | Miami Valley Today
The original doors to the courtroom used in 1841.
Matt Clevenger | Miami Valley Today
The original door to the ladies’ restroom; boiler heat and indoor restrooms were added to the IOOF Building in the 1920s and 1930s.
Matt Clevenger | Miami Valley Today
Courtesy photo | Troy Historic Preservation Alliance
Courtesy photo | Troy Historic Preservation Alliance
By Matt Clevenger
TROY —Members of the Troy Historic Preservation Alliance (THPA) have finished an initial clean-up of the IOOF Building located at 112-118 W. Main St., and the group is now seeking pledges for funds to help stabilize the historic structure in time for the court-ordered deadline of April, 30.
“We have an eleven-member board, and everybody’s put a lot of time into the building so far,” THPA President Ben Sutherly said. “We did an initial clean-up; we had selective demo happening with the ceiling.”
The THPA purchased the IOOF Building in December 2023 under a court-ordered settlement agreement with the building’s previous owner. Under the agreement, the THPA is required to complete stabilization repairs to the building before April 30, or the city can demolish the structure to allow for the re-opening of West Main Street.
Donations and pledges are currently being accepted through the THPA website at www.thpatroy.org.
“We’re looking for help form businesses or individuals,” Sutherly said. “We’ve been making a lot of calls.”
“We are a 501(C) 3 non-profit, so contributions are tax-deductible,” he said. “We have a $300,000 challenge grant, so when folks donate their contributions are being matched dollar-for-dollar right now.”
Portions of the IOOF Building were originally constructed in 1841, and served as the county courthouse until 1888. The building is the sixth-oldest courthouse left in the state of Ohio, Sutherly said.
The courthouse building sparked the “courthouse wars” that led to ongoing rivalry between Troy and Piqua, and nearly 400 members of the Randolph Freed People were also registered in the clerk’s office of the courthouse when they arrived in Miami County.
“The Randolph Freed People were the largest single migration of African-Americans to a free state before the Civil War happened,” Sutherly said. “It made national news.”
“The door to the office is still here,” he said.
A ‘new’ courthouse was constructed across the street and one block down in 1888, and the building was used by the Miami Union newspaper before being sold to the Independent Order of the Oddfellows (IOOF). The IOOF remodeled the old courthouse and added on, constructing a larger brick building that remains largely unchanged today.
“They were here from 1902 to 1939,” Sutherly said. “The upper two floors have never been occupied since then. It’s like people walked away more than 80 years ago, and nothing’s happened up here since then.”
“It’s going to take a little bit of time to get that where it needs to be,” he said. “With a concerted effort, it will turn around. It’s happening across the downtown right now; we just had to get this building on a different trajectory.”
