Oldest courthouses in the United States

Below is a list of the oldest extant courthouses in the United States.

In 1774, the courthouse was the site of a county petition to King George III to address various colonial grievances and for authorizing county relief to the citizens of Boston to assist them from the King's sanctions from the Boston Tea Party incident. Judge William Hancock of the King's Court of Common Pleas presided at the courthouse. He was later unintentionally killed by British soldiers in the American Revolution during the massacre of Hancock House (New Jersey) committed by the British against local Revolutionary militia during the Salem Raid in 1778. The courthouse was afterwards the scene of the "treason trials" of 1778, wherein suspected Loyalists were put on trial for having allegedly aided the British during the Salem Raid. Four men were convicted and sentenced to death for treason; however, they were pardoned by Governor William Livingston and exiled from New Jersey.

The courthouse is also the site of the legend of Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson proving the edibility of the tomato. Before 1820, Americans often assumed tomatoes were poisonous. In 1820, Colonel Johnson, according to legend, stood upon the courthouse steps and ate tomatoes in front of a large amazed crowd assembled to watch him do so.

This courthouse was the local county seat of lawyer and patriot Patrick Henry. It was in this courthouse that Patrick Henry argued the case of the Parson's Cause in 1763. A case involving King George III's requirement that Virginia residents pay taxes to support the local Anglican Church ministry over the objection of Virginia residents and the Virginia colonial legislature, Henry accused the King of tyranny in overturning colonial law without regard to the wishes of his subjects. The case and Henry's arguments are now regarded by many historians as one of the prelude events leading to the American Revolution. In 1774, the courthouse was the site of local preparation for the first assembly of the Virginia Convention and it considered grievances against British rule and the "Hanover Resolves" adopted at the meeting also supported the Boston Tea Party.

The following other old courthouses still standing today exist as museums, for other government functions, or are now privately owned facilities.

The first judges held court on the lower Eastern Shore of Virginia starting in 1632 by meeting in private homes, ordinaries and taverns. In 1677 the court was moved to an area called “The Hornes”, later to be called Peachburg Town, and then Eastville. The site has served as the seat of Northampton County government since that time. Circa 1731, the old Northampton County Courthouse, laid in Flemish bond brickwork, was preceded by at least two wooden structures. The 1731 courthouse became too small and use was discontinued in 1795. It was leased as a store with the condition that the structure be re-roofed and maintained. In 1913 the County bought back the lease and prepared to demolish the structure. A campaign by local residents to save the structure began and the building was moved 30 feet to its current location and preserved for visitors today. The site also holds the old Clerk’s Office (c. 1725 – 1750), old Debtor’s Prison (ca. 1814), a former courthouse (1899), a former jail (1914), and Lawyer’s Row. One of the most complete historic court greens in the United States the Eastville Court Green is listed as a Historic District on both the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. A museum curated by the Northampton Historic Preservation Society is housed in the former 1899 courthouse.

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