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Tioga County Courthouse

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1835; 1931–1935, Lester M. Davis; 1974–1975 annex, L. Robert Kimball and Associates; 1988 additions, John M. Kostecky Jr. and Associates. 118 Main St.
  • (© George E. Thomas)
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)

In 1835 the Pennsylvania Assembly authorized the county to borrow money for erecting its public buildings. Built of dressed local sandstone, the courthouse was for nearly a century a trim but modest Federal-style block. Taking a positive view, the History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania (1897) reported, “If not imposing in architectural appearance, it has served its purpose well.” By the 1920s county commissioners wanted more than serviceability, and in 1931 commissioned a Scranton architect to remodel the building. He removed a balustrade above the cornice, replaced late-nineteenth-century two-over-two windows with nine-over-nine windows, added a rear wing, installed a Federal-style entrance with a segmental-arched fanlight, and, most impressive, erected a Corinthian tetrastyle portico. Finally Tioga County had a courthouse that was indeed “imposing in architectural appearance.” A nine-bay two-story dressed sandstone annex was added to the courthouse's southwest side in 1975. Further additions were made in 1988.

Writing Credits

Author: 
George E. Thomas
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Data

What's Nearby

John L. Robinson House
First Presbyterian Church
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Jesse Robinson House
United Methodist Church of Wellsboro

Citation

George E. Thomas, "Tioga County Courthouse", [Wellsboro, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-02-TI5.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of PA vol 2

Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, George E. Thomas, with Patricia Likos Ricci, Richard J. Webster, Lawrence M. Newman, Robert Janosov, and Bruce Thomas. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, 562-563.

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