The Old Newberry County Courthouse at 1207 Caldwell St. in

Newberry, South Carolina Newberry is a city in Newberry County, South Carolina, United States, in the Piedmont northwest of Columbia. The charter was adopted in 1894. The population was 10,277 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Newberry County; at one time ...

was built in 1852. The

courthouse 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. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

was designed by Jacob Graves and constructed by James Darmon, and later remodeled in 1880 by builder Osborne Wells. It was constructed as part of a series of five county courthouses, in use from its construction until 1906. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1971.

History

The courthouse was originally built in 1852 by James Darmon, based on a design by Jacob Graves, an architect who previously resided in Columbia, South Carolina. Very little is known of Graves' background or education, though he is a native of

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. The courthouse was constructed as the fourth in a series of five courthouses used in Newberry County, with it seeing use between its construction in 1852 and 1906, two years before the current county courthouse was constructed. Graves' design for the courthouse is an outstanding example of

Greek Revival architecture Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

, utilizing many techniques of this style on the exterior of the building commonly seen within Greek Revival, such as

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

brick, fluted Tuscan columns, and a massive triangular

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

. Additionally, much of the design of the

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

is heavily based on designs of the

Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

. In 1880 during Reconstruction, Newberry builder Osborne Wells was given the task of remodeling the courthouse. His additions to the exterior include adding two-columned

porticos 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 cultu ...

along the side entrances, and a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

mounted on the frontal

References

Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina County courthouses in South Carolina Greek Revival architecture in South Carolina Government buildings completed in 1852 Buildings and structures in Newberry County, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Newberry County, South Carolina Newberry, South Carolina 1852 establishments in South Carolina {{NewberryCountySC-NRHP-stub