TROY, Ohio — Preserving old buildings is easier said than done, especially when talking about a massive job like restoring a historic courthouse.

The work is time-consuming and the materials are expensive, but the passion to pay tribute to the past can outweigh most obstacles.

“It is a solid old building and with a little TLC, we think it’s going to look a heck of a lot better,” said Ben Sutherly as he stood outside of the old Miami County Courthouse in downtown Troy.

Sutherly is the president of the Troy Historic Preservation Alliance.

“There was a hallway between here and the outside wall and the hallway remains in place, so we’re kind of walking within the original footprint,” said Sutherly as he walked inside from the back of the building.

The courthouse was built in 1841, twenty years before the Civil War.

It’s the 6th oldest courthouse remaining in the state of Ohio.

“The central hallway here is exactly how it was more than 180 years ago,” he said.

If the walls could talk, they’d have a lot to say and still can with the proper attention.

The walls might talk about the journey of the nearly 400 Randolph Freedpeople.

It was one of the largest migrations of African Americans to a free state prior to the Civil War.

“They were getting ready to board a canal boat to come up western Troy, Ohio and when they arrived, they had to actually register under Ohio’s Black Laws,” Sutherly said.

The laws intended to discourage black settlement and required African Americans to find a white person to post a 500-dollar bond and vouch for good character.

“I’m standing in the spot where the Randolph Freedpeople would have registered at the old Miami County Courthouse,” said Sutherly.

Sutherly says even to this day, descendants of the Randolph Freedpeople live in Troy, Piqua and Sidney.

“The fact that you had to come here if you were black and register, sent you a message. I think it’s important, even though that message doesn’t make us feel great today, it’s still a really important message and an important reminder of what it meant to be a black Ohioan in the mid-19th century,” he said.

The 1800s courthouse isn’t the only building Sutherly and the alliance are working to save.

Grafted onto the front and seen from West Main Street, is a three-story building from 1902 used by a fraternal organization called the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Downstairs has been used by different businesses over the years, but upstairs is a different story.

“This is really a time capsule from before 1939 after the Independent Order of Odd Fellows moved out. This space was not used. So it’s been more than 80 years,” Sutherly said.

Around the corner upstairs, you’ll find old bathrooms, historical architecture, and the signature courtroom.

Under the terms of a recent settlement agreement, the group has until April 30th to stabilize the buildings and secure the roof.

“In January, four years ago, there was a freak mid-winter tornado that happened in downtown Troy. There were several commercial buildings that sustained damage and this was the only building that was never really fixed up,” Sutherly said.

The group set a goal of raising $750,000 for the project, but right now they are about $320,000 short.

If repairs can’t be made, the buildings will be demolished, but Sutherly remains hopeful.

“Ultimately, I think it will be a community vision that determines what goes into this space. A really special space that deserves a little better treatment than it’s received over the past several decades and we believe it can be transformed into a point of pride in the community again no matter what its use ends up being,” he said.

Along with seeing what becomes of the project, many people in Troy are eager to have West Main Street open again.

It’s a major route through downtown and has been blocked off since June 2023.

The Preservation Alliance is also applying for grants and looking into other ways to raise additional revenue for the project.