Jefferson County Courthouse | |
![]() Front of the courthouse | |
Location | 100 E. Washington St., Charles Town, West Virginia |
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Coordinates | 39°17′20.78″N77°51′35.32″W / 39.2891056°N 77.8598111°W |
Built | c. 1836 |
Architect | Phillips and Cockrill (1871) A.B. Mullett (1910) |
Architectural style | Georgian |
NRHP reference No. | 73001910 (NRHP listing), 100009833 (NHL designation) |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | July 10, 1973 [1] |
Designated NHL | December 11, 2023 |
The Jefferson County Courthouse is a historic building in Charles Town, West Virginia, USA. The building is historically notable as the site of two trials for treason: that of John Brown in 1859 (treason against Virginia), and those of unionizing coal miners from Mingo County, West Virginia (treason against West Virginia), a consequence of the Battle of Blair Mountain, whose trials were moved from the southern part of the state in 1922 as a result of a change of venue. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2023 for its role in the mining wars.
The courthouse is a red brick building in the Georgian style with a prominent Doric pedimented porch. It has an unusual clock tower with a square dome that resembles Second Empire structures. The courthouse is set on a high stone foundation, facing onto a small yard enclosed by a metal fence. The porch has four Doric columns, with small copies of the portico's pediment over the main floor windows and front door, and a projecting central iron balcony on the upper level. [2] The first Mullett addition largely matches the main building, while the second addition features significant stone trim detailing. [3]
The first courthouse on the site was built in 1803 on a lot donated by Charles Washington, but was destroyed in a fire. Its replacement, the core of the present courthouse, was built in 1836–37 with its present Doric pedimented porch. During the American Civil War the courthouse was heavily damaged by cannon fire and was salvaged for metal.[ further explanation needed ]Was it torn down? [4] From 1865 to 1872 the courthouse was vacant, and court was held in Shepherdstown at McMurran Hall. In 1871–72 the building was reconstructed to a design by Phillips and Cockrill, keeping the façade, but little else. A disproportionately large cupola was added for the town clock on top of the porch at this time. In 1910 Alfred B. Mullett designed an extension to the rear, with a later Georgian Revival addition comprising a jail and sheriff's offices. [3]
Two famous trials have taken place in the courthouse. The first was Virginia v. John Brown , John Brown's 1859 trial for treason against Virginia, fomenting a slave insurrection, and murder. Brown's captured associates, facing the same charges, were tried at the same time. All were found guilty and executed. The second was the trial of coal miners from Mingo County who had fought in the Battle of Blair Mountain, whose trial had changed venue to Jefferson County. The trials eventually moved to Morgan County, and then Greenbrier County. [2]
A former plaque at the entrance to the courthouse "in honor and memory of the Confederate soldiers of Jefferson County", placed in 1986 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, was removed in 2018, [5] as part of the wave of removal of Confederate monuments and memorials that followed Dylann Roof's massacre.
Mingo County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,568. Its county seat and largest city is Williamson. Created in 1895, Mingo is West Virginia's newest county, named for the historic Iroquoian Mingo people.
Jefferson County is located in the Shenandoah Valley in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. It is the easternmost county of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 57,701. Its county seat is Charles Town. The county was founded in 1801, and today is part of the Washington metropolitan area.
Charles Town is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 6,534 at the 2020 census. The city is named for its founder Charles Washington, youngest brother of President George Washington. It is part of the northwestern fringes of the Washington metropolitan area.
The Battle of Matewan was a shootout in the town of Matewan in Mingo County and the Pocahontas Coalfield mining district, in southern West Virginia. It occurred on May 19, 1920 between local coal miners and their allies and the Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency. The dead included the detective agency's founder's two brothers and Matewan's mayor Cabell Testerman, who supported the union.
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, originally Harpers Ferry National Monument, is located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers in and around Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The park includes the historic center of Harpers Ferry, notable as a key 19th-century industrial area and as the scene of John Brown's failed abolitionist uprising. It contains the most visited historic site in the state of West Virginia, John Brown's Fort.
The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest labor uprising in United States history and is the largest armed uprising since the American Civil War. The conflict occurred in Logan County, West Virginia, as part of the Coal Wars, a series of early-20th-century labor disputes in Appalachia.
Andrew H. Hunter was a Virginia lawyer, slaveholder, and politician who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, including the Confederate House of Delegates. He was the Commonwealth's attorney for Jefferson County, Virginia, who prosecuted John Brown for the raid on Harpers Ferry.
Happy Retreat is a historic property in Charles Town, West Virginia, which was originally owned and developed by Charles Washington, the youngest brother of George Washington and the founder of Charles Town.
West Virginia Independence Hall is a historic government building at 1528 Market Street in downtown Wheeling, West Virginia, United States. It was built in 1860 under the supervision of architect Ammi B. Young for the federal government as a custom house, post office and courthouse. It is architecturally significant for its innovative uses of wrought iron as a framing material, and is historically significant for its role in the American Civil War. It housed the Wheeling Convention (1861), as well as the West Virginia Constitutional Convention (1863), which resulted in the separation of Unionist West Virginia from Confederate Virginia. This made it the only state to secede from a Confederate state during the war. The building was originally built as the custom house for the Western District of Virginia, and later became the center of government for the Restored Government of Virginia from 1861 to 1863, with Francis H. Pierpont serving as its governor. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1988. The building is now a state-run museum, housing exhibits on West Virginia history.
The West Virginia coal wars (1912–1921), also known as the mine wars, arose out of a dispute between coal companies and miners.
The Harpers Ferry Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, was the second federal armory created by the United States government; the first was the Springfield Armory. It was located in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, which since 1863 has been part of West Virginia. It was both an arsenal, manufacturing firearms, and an armory, a storehouse for firearms. Along with the Springfield Armory, it was instrumental in the development of machining techniques to make interchangeable parts of precisely the same dimensions.
The Matewan Historic District encompasses the town center of the rural coal mining community of Matewan, West Virginia. Matewan was the scene of the Battle of Matewan on May 19, 1920, during a coal miners' strike, an event which led to the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest insurrection ever associated with the labor movement in the United States, and was depicted in the film Matewan. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997.
The Pittsylvania County Courthouse is located at 1 North Main Street in downtown Chatham, Virginia, USA. Built in 1853, this Greek Revival building was Pittsylvania County's third courthouse. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987, because it was the scene of events leading to Ex parte Virginia, a United States Supreme Court case extending the Equal Protection Clause to state actions such as jury selection.
Don Chafin was the sheriff of Logan County, West Virginia, and a commander in the Battle of Blair Mountain. As sheriff of Logan County, Chafin was a fierce opponent of unionization and received hundreds of thousands of dollars from coal mine operators in bribes for his violent suppression of the United Mine Workers union.
William H. Blizzard was an American union organizer, a commander of the miners' army during the Battle of Blair Mountain, and president of District 17 of the United Mine Workers (UMWA). Blizzard is most remembered for his role in the Battle of Blair Mountain, leading the miners against the forces of Logan County sheriff Don Chafin. For his leadership role in the battle, Blizzard was charged with treason, but was acquitted at his trial on these charges. From that time forward, he remained an important leader within the UMWA and organized labor.
The U.S. Custom House or U.S. Customhouse is the custom house in Charleston, South Carolina. Construction began in 1852, but was interrupted in 1859 due to costs and the possibility of South Carolina's secession from the Union. After the Civil War, construction was restarted in 1870 and completed in 1879. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 1974. It is also a contributing property of the Charleston Historic District.
The Wilkes County Courthouse is a historic government building and clock tower located in the city of Washington, Georgia, the seat of Wilkes County. The latest in a series of courthouses in the county's history, the current building was completed in 1904 and since that date has been the official home of Wilkes County's Superior Court, and the base of the county's government. On September 18, 1980, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Downtown Morgantown Historic District is a federally designated historic district in Morgantown, Monongalia County, West Virginia. The district, encompassing approximately 75 acres, has 122 contributing buildings and 2 contributing sites including commercial and public buildings, residences, and churches. The district has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since May 2, 1996. Ten of the contributing buildings are listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places. Significant structures located within the historic district are the Monongalia County Courthouse, the Metropolitan Theater, and the Old Morgantown Post Office.
The Coal Wars were a series of armed labor conflicts in the United States, roughly between 1890 and 1930. Although they occurred mainly in the East, particularly in Appalachia, there was a significant amount of violence in Colorado after the turn of the century.
Buckingham Courthouse Historic District is a historic county courthouse complex and national historic district located at Buckingham, Buckingham County, Virginia. It encompasses 10 contributing buildings and 1 contributing object. The courthouse building was built in 1873, and is a two-story temple-form Greek Revival style building fronted by a pedimented tetrastyle Doric order portico. It replaced an earlier courthouse designed by Thomas Jefferson and built between 1822 and 1824, but burned down in 1869. Also included in the district is the former Buckingham Tavern, former Buckingham Inn, the Leach House, the Presbyterian manse, the Masonic Hall, a brick house called West View, the Trinity Presbyterian Church, and Confederate monument.