The Pineville Courthouse Square Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

Pineville, Kentucky Pineville () is a home rule-class city in Bell County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 1,732 as of the 2010 census. It is located on a small strip of land between the Cumberland River and Pine Mountain ...

that is listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. It includes the Bell County Courthouse and related government buildings and the central business core of the town. The original courthouse square was laid out in 1888. The original courthouse (no longer extant) of

Bell County, Kentucky Bell County is a county located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,097. Its county seat is Pineville. The county was formed in 1867, during the Reconstruction era from parts of Kn ...

was built in 1894. The current courthouse, with a

pedimented Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pediment ...

Ionic

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

, was designed by architect

John W. Gaddis John W. Gaddis (December 2, 1858 - September 5, 1931) was a noted architect of Vincennes, Indiana. He designed numerous buildings that are preserved and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. His works include: *Natchez Institute, N ...

Vincennes, Indiana Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the lower Wabash River in the Southwestern Indiana, southwestern part of the state, nearly halfway between Evansville, Indi ...

in 1919. The courthouse was renovated extensively in 1978. with The district included what was the only 4-story building in Pineville as of 1988, the 1921-built Pineville Furniture Store building. Next door to that is a George Mesker-designed commercial building with "corbelled cream-colored brickwork." It includes an "impressive"

Masonic Temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history In ...

building built in 1921 that has a three-story brick facade "ornamented with what resembles a

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

arch of stone supported by a pair of engaged Egyptian

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

." A brick parapet "is raised in the center to form a shallow pediment above an inscription identifying the building, and a central stone panel contains an emblem of the winged sun disk." It was listed on the NRHP in 1990. The district includes 35 properties, including 26 contributing and four non-contributing buildings.

References

Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Romanesque Revival architecture in Kentucky Neoclassical architecture in Kentucky Government buildings completed in 1888 National Register of Historic Places in Bell County, Kentucky 1888 establishments in Kentucky Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Squares in the United States {{BellCountyKY-NRHP-stub