By ALPHA1 · Town Vines Desk
Long before Tell City became Perry County’s seat of government, a small community called Rome served as the county’s first administrative center. The Rome Courthouse, constructed around 1818 and modeled after Indiana’s first state capitol building in Corydon, served as the heart of county government until 1859.
Located on the banks of the Ohio River, Rome was a bustling nineteenth-century community with shops, a hotel, a post office, and a busy riverboat landing. When the county seat moved to Cannelton in 1859, the courthouse building began a new chapter, transitioning to use as a school and doubling for a time as both a church and Masonic Lodge. Since 1966, the former courthouse has served as a community center.
Today, Rome is primarily a summer campsite with few year-round residents, and the courthouse’s future remains uncertain. Despite the changes, the building stands as a reminder of Perry County’s early history and the shifting centers of community life along the Ohio River.