The Eaton County Courthouse originally had three porticos, one at each of the three main entrances. A portico is a porch or covered walk that consists of a roof supported by columns.

Perhaps as a way of marrying together the exterior and interior of the courthouse the ceiling of the front south portico is painted a bright light blue, which brings the outside sky into this inside space. Decorative paint motifs similar to the one on this ceiling were extremely fashionable in the Victorian era, thanks in large part to the development of new paint technologies after the Civil War.

Prior to the Civil War most paint was mixed on site in large drums using balls that would roll around the drum, combining the lead, oils, and pigment required for paint making. Then, during the Civil War, the U.S. government developed something new – the paint can! Originally used as a sort of lunch pail that preserved army rations during shipment to the troops, the cans began to be used for paints soon after the war ended. Thanks to new chemical breakthroughs, suddenly companies could ship premixed paints across the nation. This new technology resulted in the explosion of color palates for new structures across America.