The Old Tolland County Courthouse is a historic former
courthouse at 53 Tolland Green in
Tolland, Connecticut
Tolland is a suburban town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 14,563 at the 2020 census.
History
Tolland was named in May, 1715, and incorporated in May, 1722 from Windsor. The town was over 20 miles away from ...
. Built in 1822 it was used as a county courthouse until the 1890s. It housed the
Tolland Public Library from 1899 to 1985. Now a history
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
operated by the
Tolland Historical Society,
the building was listed on the
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 ...
in 1977.
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Description and history
The Old Tolland County Courthouse is located on the west side of the Tolland Green, roughly at the junction of Connecticut Routes 195
Year 195 ( CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe cond ...
and 74. Build in the neoclassical Federal style, the courthouse a -story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior with a Palladian window. The roof is topped by a two-story tower, with a square base and an octagonal louvered belfry capped by a round cupola. The main building facade is three bays wide, with corner pilasters rising to an entablature and gabled pediment. The main entrance is flanked by pilasters and topped by a half-round transom window and gabled pediment. The interior has been restored, with the second floor resembling its original appearance as a courtroom.
The courthouse was built in 1822, when Tolland was the county seat of Tolland County
Tolland County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, its population was 149,788. It is incorporated into 13 towns and was originally formed on 13 October 1785 from portions of eastern H ...
. The courthouse remained in service as such until 1890, when county courts mostly moved to Rockville. Starting in 1899, the courthouse housed the town's public library. In 1930, the courthouse was sold for $1 to Samuel Simpson, who promptly donated the building to the Tolland Public Library Association. The building continued to house the probate courts for Tolland and neighboring Ellington until 1960.
The courthouse served as the Tolland Public Library until 1985, when the library moved to the renovated and expanded Hick Municipal Building and Library Complex, formerly the Hicks Memorial School. In 2001, the Tolland Public Library Association donated the courthouse to the Tolland Historical Society, which oversaw its restoration and conversion to a museum.
See also
*
References
External links
Old Tolland County Courthouse
- Tolland Historical Society
{{National Register of Historic Places
Tolland, Connecticut
Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Buildings and structures in Tolland County, Connecticut
County courthouses in Connecticut
Museums in Tolland County, Connecticut
History museums in Connecticut
Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Tolland County, Connecticut