Morristown, New Jersey

Architect-builders Joseph M. Lindsley of Morristown and Lewis Carter of Chatham crafted one of New Jersey’s finest Federal-style public buildings for the Morris County courthouse when it left the center of the Green in 1827. The land cost $100.  The red brick is trimmed with brownstone quarried in the neighborhood. Above the entrance is a gilded statue of Justice - it is unusual because in Morris County, justice is not blindfolded.

Norristown, Pennsylvania

The oldest part of the Montgomery County Court House, which faces Swede Street, is of the Greek Revival style. It was built as the result of a competition of 1849 between Thomas U. Walter (architect of Girard College and later of the U.S. Capitol dome) and Napoleon LeBrun, designer of Philadelphia’s Academy of Music and Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul. LeBrun’s successful design originally featured a steeple that was even higher than the Presbyterian church’s to the east, and it was criticized as being out of keeping with the Greek Revival style. The steeple was replaced by the dome in a substantial renovation of 1904. The interior of the Court House dates largely from 1904, when the stained glass ceilings in courtrooms A, B, and C were installed.

Binghamton, New York

The Binghamton municipal government greeted the new 20th century in this French Renaissance confection designed by Raymond Francis Almirall in 1898. The five-story building is constructed of rusticated native limestone supporting a slate roof punctuated by ornate dormers and topped with a copper clad cupola. The Latin words beneath the exuberant cornice translate to “Let justice be done thought he heavens fall.” The government stayed until 1972 and the building has be refitted as a hotel.

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

The Centre County courthouse was first constructed in 1805 and 1806, with a wing added in 1811.  The Ionic columns on the porch were built in 1835. With the exception of this porch, the entire building was replaced in 1854 and 1855. The rear section was added in 1909 through 1911, and the new east wing was built in 1963-1964. The Soldiers and Sailors War Memorial and statue of Andrew Gregg Curtin were dedicated in 1906.  The Memorial was designed by Joseph M Huston, the architect who designed the State Capitol Building in Harrisburg.  The intersection of four streets in front of the Courthouse, known as The Diamond, has been the hub of all activity in Bellefonte since its founding and is representative of the Pennsylvania Diamond, characteristic of towns in Pennsylvania and nearby areas which were settled by Pennsylvanians.

Camden, South Carolina

Camden’s most famous personage has stood watch over the town for the better part of 200 years. From about 1750 until 1763 King Haiglar, a Catawba chief, was a valuable friend to the pioneers of Pine Tree Hill, as Camden was then known.

Some time between 1815 and 1826, J.B. Mathieu, executed a 5’1” iron effigy of King Haiglar and presented it to the town. It stands as a weather vane atop the Opera House tower that was constructed in 1886. This is the third clock tower built in Camden. The first was built for the town marketplace at the corner of Bull and Market streets. It was destroyed by fire in 1812. A bell and clock joined the second marketplace/tower in the 1820s. The present tower was erected in 1885.

In addition to the market on the first floor, it also served as an opera house and City Hall offices. In 1954 the city sold the building but retained the rights to the 107-foot tower. When the government moved into new offices at the end of Rutledge Street in 1995 a copy of King Haiglar was placed atop new City Hall.

When it came time to move into new quarters in the mid 1950s city fathers chose to build a Neo-Georgian City Hall that harkens back to the days of the American Revolution.

Torrington, Connecticut

Carl Victor Johnson was working both sides of the street in the mid-1930s. He incorporated classical Colonial Revival elements into his design for City Hall, just as he did for the savings bank it faces.

Indiana, Pennsylvania

A courthouse appeared on this corner in the center of town shortly after the county was formed in 1803. J.W. Drum designed this replacement in 1870 at the cost of $186,000. He blended classical elements, such as the grand colonnade of fluted iron columns topped with Corinthian capitals supporting a pediment, with the then-modern Second Empire style (mansard roof). The golden clock tower consists of a podium, belfry, and cupola. When the county government moved down the street in the 1970s, the courthouse was saved from destruction by NBOC, which took out a 99 year lease with the county and poured an estimated half-million dollars into restoration.

Dover, Delaware

The first building in Dover, a courthouse, rose on this location 1697; the site selected was consistent
with the wishes of William Penn. By 1724 it was the site of King George’s Tavern, for many years
a hostelry favored for political rallies and host of many gubernatorial receptions. In 1918 this 1875
brick Kent County courthouse was completely overhauled to its current neo-Georgian appearance, reflecting the Dover colonial heritage movement of the day. Exterior walls are laid in Flemish bond brick with a brick quoin pattern and a water table. The cross hip roof has a modillioned cornice with dentil
molding. The central clock tower rises in three tiers above the main block’s roof.

Glastonbury, Connecticut

This 1840 Greek Revival building rendered in pinkish brick served as the Glastonbury Town Hall for over 100 years until it was moved to its current park-like setting on Hubbard Green. The simple building packs a surprising amount of architectural detail: tall 16-over-16 windows with brownstone lintels, a ten-paneleled front door and  and a round-arched louver in the recessed triangular section of the pediment’s tympanum. This was the site of the town’s first meetinghouse back in 1693. The building is the home of the Historical Society of Glastonbury and operated as a museum.

This site has had a busy building history and a legacy of 150 years of serving the community. The first structure erected here was an Italianate frame building that was occupied by the Glastonbury Academy. It is gone today but its successors remain in use. The oldest extant building. facing the street, was the Williams Memorial that served as a community recreation center with bowling lanes and a gymnasium. It was built by the family of James Baker Williams in 1915. Williams came to Glastonbury in 1847 to manufacture Williams’ Genuine Yankee Soap, the first manufactured soap for use in shaving mugs. The company, that would develop such iconic products as Aqua Velva, Lectric Shave, and Skol, remained in the family until 1957. A complimentary Georgian Revival building was added in 1923 and a one-story brick-and-glass addition came along around 1960.

Hagerstown, Maryland

Hagerstown’s first City Hall was a combination marketplace and office structure in the square. The first floor was an open-air market, farmers would drive their wagons through the enormous open archways to sell their goods. In 1818 City Hall was rebuilt one block north of the square and in 1941 the current City Hall was built. A model of the original City Hall is on display on the first floor.

Little Heiskell, Hagerstown’s symbol, is a weathervane in the shape of a Hessian soldier. He was designed for Hagerstown’s first City Hall in 1769 by a German tinsmith named Heiskell. During the Civil War, a sharpshooter used Little Heiskell as a target and shot him through the heart. Undaunted, Little Heiskell remained atop City Hall until 1935 when he was removed to the Hager House Museum in City Park. A replica can be seen above the current City Hall.

Clarion, Pennsylvania

This is the third courthouse that has graced the county seat of Clarion. The first Clarion County Courthouse, completed in 1842 at the cost of  $10,636.16, was brick, two stories, and divided by a slight offset — from which there were two narrow recesses into two longitudinal wings. In 1859 fire erupted in a faulty flue and destroyed the building. It was replaced by a substantial brick building with, unfortunately, a wooden roof approximately 65 feet high. About one o’clock on the morning of September 12, 1882, fire which had been smoldering in the loft, burst through the roof. The water pressure was not enough to force the stream to the top. The building was gutted in a few hours, leaving the walls standing comparatively intact for a new courthouse.

The current Victorian courthouse was completed shortly afterwards. It is dominated by a 25-foot square tower, 213 feet high. It rises 139 feet above the roof. The walls of the main part are 22 inches thick. This roof is of tin and slate. The clock dial, nine feet in diameter, and the bell, weighing 1,313 pounds, were furnished by the Howard Clock Company from New York. The interior of the clock loft is fitted with gas pipes for illumination. Todays’ appearance reflects a complete exterior renovation undertaken in 1981.

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah’s City Hall is located on Yamacraw Bluff overlooking the Savannah River. This is the same bluff where General James Oglethorpe landed in 1733.City Hall was designed and built by local architect Hyman Wallace Witcover in 1901. The original cost estimate of $205,167 included ornate statues of chariots and horses atop the structure. Budget considerations forced their deletion from the final plans, but they can still be seen in the architect’s original rendering. City Hall is a Renaissance Revival building with classic proportions and detailing. The structure replaced a circa 1799 City Exchange building which had housed City government for many years.