You are here

Fulton County Courthouse and Courthouse Square

-A A +A
1850–1852, Jacob Stoner. Courthouse Sq.

Carpenter Jacob Stoner (1792–1876) must have been familiar with nearby Greek Revival courthouses when he entered the competition to design Fulton County's courthouse in 1850. His design is similar to Bedford County's courthouse of 1826–1829 designed by Solomon Filler ( BD1) and the Mifflin County Courthouse (1850, Holman and Simon), both of which feature the requisite cupola and a pediment supported by six Tuscan columns. The Fulton courthouse is a rectangular building, five bays in width and six bays in length, with square-headed windows throughout. The jail, designed by Solomon Filler in 1852, now serves as the sheriff's office.

The courthouse and the historic buildings that surround the square form an engaging ensemble. Noteworthy buildings include the Jacob Reed house of 1852–1855 at 204 Courthouse Square and the small Wible law office (1892) adjacent to it at number 202. The handsome brick, Greek Revival Reed house of three bays has a recessed entrance framed by sidelights and a transom, a pedimented gable end, bridged chimneys, and a two-story porch lining the rear ell. The former Lewis H. Wible Law Office is a small, frame, gable-roofed building that looks like it may have been the dependency of a larger structure. The rectangular building is three by three bays with cove-lap siding, corner boards, ornamented window surrounds, and shutters. The trappings of a turn-of-the-twentieth-century law practice remain inside. The oldest structure on the square is the red brick Washington House Hotel (c. 1850; 124–130 N. 2nd Street), a brick Greek Revival structure now used as apartments. Finally, the McConnellsburg United Methodist Church (1924) at 121 N. 2nd Street is a golden brick Gothic Revival church with a square corner tower.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lu Donnelly et al.
×

Data

What's Nearby

Citation

Lu Donnelly et al., "Fulton County Courthouse and Courthouse Square", [McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-01-FU1.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of PA vol 1

Buildings of Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, Lu Donnelly, H. David Brumble IV, and Franklin Toker. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, 368-368.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,