The Chester Courthouse is a historic courthouse in

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester i ...

that served as the

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, th ...

courthouse from 1724 to 1789, the Delaware County courthouse from 1789 to 1850 and the City Hall for the city of Chester. It was built in 1724 and is the oldest public building still standing in the United States.

Description

The German Colonial-style courthouse is 2½ stories high with no basement and 2-foot-thick walls. The south and east facades of the building are hewn stone, with the other two built of

rubble stone Rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Analogously, some medieval cathedral walls are outer shells of ashlar with an i ...

. The Quaker influence on the building can be seen in the two front doors, one for men and the other for women. The interior measures . The first level has a stone-floored court room divided by a low wooden railing designed to separate the judges and lawyers from court observers. There are no fireplaces on the first floor, but both the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England du ...

room and

petit jury In common law, a petit jury (or trial jury) hears the evidence in a trial as presented by both the plaintiff (petitioner) and the defendant (respondent). After hearing the evidence and often jury instructions from the judge, the group retires f ...

room on the second floor have fireplaces. The second floor is accessed by a stairwell in the northwest corner of the building. The

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

on the courthouse contained a bell that was cast in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and added in 1729. The bell was removed for many years but returned during a 1920 restoration. A three-sided bay with large multi-paneled windows was added in 1744.

History

Plaque on the front of 1724 Chester Courthouse

The Chester courthouse was built in 1724 and was the fourth courthouse built in Chester. In 1789, the Chester County seat was moved to West Chester, Pennsylvania, and the Chester Courthouse served as the Delaware County courthouse. In 1850 the Delaware County seat was moved to

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located about west of Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation with 1.6 million residents as 2020. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolita ...

, and the Chester Courthouse served as City Hall for the city of Chester. The courthouse was used by the Delaware County Historical Society until 1966 when structural deficiencies forced them to relocate. Owned by the

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage. The commission cares fo ...

, in July 2021 the Delaware County Council entered into a 99-year lease for the Courthouse at a cost of $1 per year. Unable to afford the maintenance of the building, the Commission sought to find a way to "offload" it. The Council in conjunction with the Delaware County Historical Commission will manage the building. The court room was the oldest active court in use in the United States until 1967. Every year, one trial was held in the court room to maintain that status. Each year in May, during the celebration of Law Day, a special ceremony is held at the Chester Courthouse. Students from the Chester-Upland School District present a mock trial before Judges of the

Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas In Pennsylvania, the courts of common pleas are the trial courts of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania (the state court system). The courts of common pleas are the trial courts of general jurisdiction in the state. The name derives fro ...

and the Magisterial District Courts to commemorate the significance of the courthouse and its importance to American

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

References

External links

*
Delaware County Council June Meeting at 1724 Chester PA Courthouse
video, 9:51 County courthouses in Pennsylvania Chester, Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Government buildings completed in 1724 History of Chester, Pennsylvania Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Delaware County, Pennsylvania 1724 establishments in Pennsylvania {{DelawareCountyPA-NRHP-stub

Description

History

See also

References

External links