Lancaster, Pennsylvania

This is the third Lancaster County courthouse; the first two brick buildings stood a block away on Penn Square, then known as Centre Square. The grand building has evolved and expanded through the decades. The oldest section of this monumental cut-stone building was constructed between 1852-1854 in Roman Revival temple form by nationally respected Philadelphia architect, Samuel Sloan. The T-shaped rear wing was added in 1896 from the pen of local architect James H. Warner. Warner, who designed the Central Market, matched the materials and details of Sloans’ original building. In 1927, ow wings flanking the exterior staircase were built from designs by C. Emlen Urban to blend with the previous construction. The cupola contains a clock with four dials and a statue of Justice holding scales sits atop the central dome.