Bulloch County Courthouse | |
Location | Courthouse Sq., Statesboro, Georgia |
---|---|
Coordinates | 32°26′57″N81°46′59″W / 32.44917°N 81.78306°W |
Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
Built | 1894 |
Architect | Bruce & Morgan. 1894; Edward Columbus Hosford of Hosford & Co., 1914 |
Architectural style | Classical Revival, Queen Anne |
MPS | Georgia County Courthouses TR |
NRHP reference No. | 80000978 [1] |
Added to NRHP | September 18, 1980 |
The Bulloch County Courthouse is a historic courthouse that is located in downtown Statesboro, Georgia. It was built in 1894 to house the county government. [2] [3] On September 18, 1980, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. [1]
Bulloch County was officially established on February 8, 1796. Bryan and Screven counties were the two counties that Bulloch County was created from by an act of the Georgia General Assembly. Bulloch County was named after Archibald Bulloch, who was Georgia's first provisional governor from 1776 to 1777. [4] In 1796 three men were appointed to be commissioners: Drury Jones, John Mikell and Israel Bird. They were in charge of finding a proper place to build the courthouse and the jail. [5] In May 1797 the first Superior Court was held in Bulloch County at Stephen Mills’ home and continued to be held there until the courthouse was built. [2] [3] [5] The fourth Mondays in April and October were the only two days that the superior court met each year. The inferior court, however, met every first Monday of the month. When Bulloch County first started having court, there were no local lawyers or judges. Bulloch County obtained its first lawyers and judges after the Civil War. [5]
The justices of the inferior court that were appointed by the legislature in 1796 were Israel Bird, John Rawls, and James Bird. The justices of the peace included John Douglas, John Everett, Robert Scott, William McCall, and Mark Pridgeon. [5]
Benjamin Richardson, Drury Jones, Joseph Rogers, and John Everett, and Stephen Denmark are the justices of the inferior court that were appointed through 1800. Jarvis Jackson, Hardeman Richardson, and John O’Neil were the ones that succeed them in 1802. The justices would now be compensated for their services in 1802 because of an act that was passed. Bridger Jones was appointed in 1808 as justice. S. Williams and Jonathon Roberts were appointed as justices in 1810. [5]
In 1803, in exchange for receiving 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land to build the courthouse, jail, and other public buildings, the Georgia General Assembly was to name the new county seat "Statesborough". [4] Bulloch County did not have a courthouse until 1806. [6] All of the court proceedings before 1806 were held in private homes or under the Old Walnut Tree. Statesboro did not grown any in the fifty years that it had been developed. It was just considered the place where court took place. [7] On December 5, 1864 the 15th Corps of General William Sherman's army burned the courthouse. [2] [3] "Statesborough" was officially incorporated by the legislature on December 20, 1866. The name changed from "Statesborough" to "Statesboro." [4]
The second courthouse was built shortly after the first courthouse was burned. It was a two-story wood frame structure on Courthouse Square. [2] [3]
The Bulloch Grand Jury decided in spring of 1894 to build a new courthouse. The two-story building was sold after the Grand Jury decided to build a new courthouse. By December 1894 the new courthouse was built. The total cost of the courthouse was twenty thousand dollars, which included furnishings. [2] [3]
In 1897, the Bulloch County community came together to buy and get a clock installed at the courthouse. [2] It is also thought that the courthouse at one time had an open-flame system at the top of the building that was used in the hopes of raising the warm air out of the building up to the roof. The open flame system is thought to have been used for some years before being dismantled with no record as to its success in helping to cool the building.
In 1904, the lynching of Paul Reed and Will Cato occurred after the two African American men were removed from the courthouse. The sheriff had released the prisoners to the mob. [8]
On April 26, 1909 the Confederate monument was dedicated. The Confederate monument is in memory of the Confederate soldiers who served from 1861 to 1865. The United Daughters of the Confederacy raised the money for the monument that presides on Court House Square. [9]
The Bulloch County Courthouse and its square appear in the film 1969 . In several scenes, the "B" in Bulloch County is changed on the courthouse to a "C" for the film's "Culloch County."[ citation needed ] The former bank building now housing the Averitt Center for the Arts appeared in "1969" as a bus station. The courthouse square is also prominent in the film's ending scene.
The courthouse was designed by Bruce and Morgan in 1894. [10] It was renovated in 1914 in the Classical Revival and Queen Anne styles by Edward Columbus Hosford, who is noted for the courthouses and other buildings that he designed in Florida, Georgia and Texas. [11] [12] Columned porticoes and the large corner brick masses were added in 1914. [2] Throughout the years, the courthouse went through many renovations that utilized different colors of brick, which might be why the exterior of the courthouse was coated with white plaster. By the 1990s, the county commission decided to restore the courthouse to its original condition. The restoration began in 1998. Some of the white plaster was professionally removed because the plaster contained asbestos, which posed a health risk. The rest of the white plaster that was not removed was just painted a red brick color. The restoration was completed in 2000. [4] Martin, Rule and Associates, of Statesboro were the architects for this renovation in 1998 to 2000. [13]
The courthouse is still in use. In the 1990s, the courthouse no longer had enough space for all of the functions that it normally provided; therefore, it expanded into the adjacent buildings around the courthouse. Also in the 1990s, Bulloch County built a judicial annex, which is located across the street from the courthouse. [4] The county officers are now located in the former Statesboro First Federal Savings and Loan Association Building, and the courts and judges’ offices are located in the new annex. [2]
A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. The term in insular british usage, and by extension, to the former colonies of the british empire, gradually superseded the term moot hall, or meeting hall, during the later half of the middle ages and early modern period, as these buildings housed the local or regional courts. The term court was introduced into english as a french loanword as couer meaning heart, as these buildings were considered to be at the heart of local judicial and administrative business. In most of continental Europe and former non-English-speaking European colonies, the equivalent term is a palace of justice.
Bulloch County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 81,099, up from 70,217 in 2010. The county seat is Statesboro. Bulloch County comprises the Statesboro, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Savannah–Hinesville–Statesboro Combined Statistical Area.
Statesboro is the largest city and county seat of Bulloch County, Georgia, United States. Located in the southeastern part of the state, its population was 33,438 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Statesboro micropolitan area, which had 81,099 residents, and is part of the Savannah–Hinesville–Statesboro combined statistical area.
The Georgia State Capitol is an architecturally and historically significant building in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The building has been named a National Historic Landmark which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As the primary office building of Georgia's government, the capitol houses the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state on the second floor, chambers in which the General Assembly, consisting of the Georgia State Senate and Georgia House of Representatives, meets annually from January to April. The fourth floor houses visitors' galleries overlooking the legislative chambers and a museum located near the rotunda in which a statue of Miss Freedom caps the dome.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit.
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Mercer University School of Law is the professional law school of Mercer University. Founded in 1873, it is one of the oldest law schools in the United States; the first law school accredited by the bar in Georgia, and the second oldest of Mercer's 12 colleges and schools. The School of Law has approximately 440 students and is located in Macon, Georgia on its own campus one mile (1.6 km) from Mercer's main campus. The law school building, one of Macon's most recognizable sites, is a three-story partial replica of Independence Hall in Philadelphia and is located on Coleman Hill overlooking downtown Macon. According to Mercer's official 2020 ABA-required disclosures, 72% of the Class of 2020 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.
Daniel Stewart was an American politician and brigadier general in the Georgia Militia. He joined the militia in 1776 and served during the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
William Augustus Edwards, also known as William A. Edwards was an Atlanta-based American architect renowned for the educational buildings, courthouses and other public and private buildings that he designed in Florida, Georgia and his native South Carolina. More than 25 of his works have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Donehoo-Brannen House is a historic house located at 332 Savannah Avenue in Statesboro, Georgia.
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The Historic Fairfax County Courthouse is one of the oldest buildings in Fairfax, Virginia. It was constructed in 1799 to serve as the seat of government in Fairfax County. During the American Civil War, the first Confederate officer casualty of the war took place on the courthouse grounds and the building was occupied by both sides in the conflict. Today, the original courthouse building is part of the larger courthouse site that serves the local government of Fairfax County.
Bruce & Morgan was an American architectural firm based in Atlanta. It was established in 1882 as the partnership of architects Alexander Campbell Bruce (1835-1927) and Thomas Henry Morgan (1857-1940).
The Early County Courthouse is the historic county courthouse of Early County, Georgia, located on Courthouse Square in Blakely, Georgia, the county seat. It was built in 1904 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1980. It is also a contributing building in the Blakely Court Square Historic District, NRHP-listed in 2002.
The Statesboro City Hall and Fire Station is a historic structure in Statesboro, Georgia. It is located at the corner of Siebald Street and Courtland Street, immediately northeast of the courthouse square. It is a one-story brick building of commercial design. It was built in 1911 as the city stables and remodeled several times. In 1933 there was a major addition and the whole structure may have been rebuilt. The city government and fire department once occupied this building. An awning was added before 1966 and a vehicle bay was added in 1970.
The Statesboro Regional Public Libraries (STRL) is a public library system that supports the counties of Bulloch, Bryan, Candler, Emanuel, and Evans Georgia. The central library is located in Statesboro, Georgia.
The West Main Street Commercial Historic District is a historic district consisting of five brick buildings in downtown Statesboro, Georgia that were built between 1905 and 1923 and that hold a total of 16 storefronts. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The James Alonzo Brannen House is a house built in 1881 in Statesboro, Georgia. It is notable as the oldest residence in the town and for its association with lawyer J. A. Brannen (1858-1923), for whom it was built, and who served as the town's first mayor.
The lynching of Paul Reed and Will Cato occurred in Statesboro, Georgia on August 16, 1904. Five members of a white farm family, the Hodges, had been murdered and their house burned to hide the crime. Paul Reed and Will Cato, who were African-American, were tried and convicted for the murders. Despite militia having been brought in from Savannah to protect them, the two men were taken by a mob from the courthouse immediately after their trials, chained to a tree stump, and burned. In the immediate aftermath, four more African-Americans were shot, three of them dying, and others were flogged.