Franklin County Courthouse (Pennsylvania)

Infobox_nrhp2 | name =Franklin County Courthouse
nrhp_type =nrhp

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caption = Courthouse, on Memorial Square in Chambersburg
location= 1 N. Main St., on Memorial Sq., Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
lat_degrees = 39
lat_minutes = 56
lat_seconds = 15
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 77
long_minutes = 39
long_seconds = 40
long_direction = W
locmapin = Pennsylvania
area =
built =1865
architect= Hutton,S.; Seibert,Samuel
architecture= Greek Revival
added = January 18 1974cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Local
refnum=74001784The current Franklin County Courthouse in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, built in 1865, is the third courthouse building on the site. The site was originally purchased from Colonel Benjamin Chambers in 1785.

The current building replaced its predecessor that was burnt on July 30 1864 by Confederate forces under Brigadier General John A. McCausland in the American Civil War. [cite web | url=http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/memory/search/browseMemory.php?xml=/db/valley/memoryarticles/FM0066.xml|last=|first=|title =Franklin County: "The Burning of Chambersburg,"|publisher =valley.vcdh.virginia.edu| date =1870-08-27| accessdate = 2007-09-21 ] McCausland was acting under the orders of General Jubal A. Early. Early was commander of the Shenandoah Valley, which was subject to much destruction by the Union forces. He was eager to retaliate against the North. Chambersburg deserved this retaliation, in his view, in part for its sympathy with John Brown while planning his raid on Harpers Ferry. McCausland offered the people of Chambersburg the chance to ransom the town for $100,000 in gold or $500,000 in greenbacks. When they did not pay, he carried on with the destruction of the town, including the second courthouse. Only the walls and pillars remained after the burning.

The current Greek Revival structure was designed by S. Hutton. [Per NRIS. Or it was designed by S. Hutton and J.A. Dempwolf, per Pennsylvania ARCH report on Franklin County Courthouse obtainable by [http://www.arch.state.pa.us/search-form.asp searching here upon "Franklin County Courthouse"] ] The construction was superintended by Samuel Seibert. They designed and built the structure around the remaining walls and columns left from the previous courthouse. It stands two and half stories high, and is built of brick. There are fifty-four windows, twenty-two on each side and five each front and back. It features a domed clock cupola with a statue of Benjamin Franklin on top. There are also six symmetrically placed chimneys on the roof. It was expanded in 1902 in the same architectural style.

The courthouse is a contributing property in the Chambersburg Historic District.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://www.arch.state.pa.us/pdfs/H000885_01B.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Chambersburg Historic District] |32 KB|date=July 31, 1980 |author=John R. Schein, Jr. and Ray C. Hearne |publisher=National Park Service] Chambersburg is the only major Northern city that was burned in the Civil War.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://www.arch.state.pa.us/pdfs/H000882_01B.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Franklin County Courthouse] |32 KB|date=July 13, 1973 |author=Janet Carol Smith |publisher=National Park Service]

References

External links

* [http://www.arch.state.pa.us/images/hires/H000882_01B.jpgPhoto of Franklin County Courthouse] at Pennsylvania ARCH system