In 1804 Newburyport’s coffers were bursting with shipping money and it was no problem to lure America’s first celebrity architect, Charles Bulfinch, to design a courthouse. Bulfinch had the job done by 1805 and the building has served as a courthouse ever since - the oldest regularly operating courthouse in the United States. Unfortunately Charles Bulfinch would have a hard time recognizing his work here. He provided the courthouse with an open arcade of graceful arches across the front and a central gable on the roof. Both were eliminated in 1853 when the town sold the courthouse to the county. Actually, you can get a better feel for Bulfinch’s hand by walking around to the back and viewing the elevation overlooking the Frog Pond. The area around the Frog Pond has been used as a town common since the 1600s. The promenade known as the Bartlet Mall was created in 1800 through the efforts of Captain Edmund Bartlet by filling in a ravine. The bombshell on display in the front of the building was brought back from the Siege of Louisburg in 1759 during the French and Indian War.
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