Newberry County Courthouse - Number I and II

Newberry Courthouses: 1202 Caldwell St., and 1226 College Street

“The population of Newberry numbers upwards of 4,000 and is rapidly increasing. The mayor is Mr. George B. Cromer. The aldermen are Messrs. E. C. Jones, M.D., Edward Scholtz, George McWhirter, and B. H. Dine. The clerk of the board is Mr. John S. Fair, and the chief of police is Capt. J. H. Chappell. The head of the fire department is J. E. Brown, with S. B. McCaughrin and S. B. Jones assistant chiefs. They are provided with a first-class La France steamer manned by the young white men of Newberry, who take a great interest in their work and are prompt and efficient. The steamer company is supplemented by a colored hand engine and a colored hook and ladder company, the whole combining to make the department one of the best equipped and most efficient in the State.”*

City Directories and History: The town of Newberry, S.C. is a charming location with extensive architectural treasures worthy of preservation. One of the biggest attractions in this lovely town, for R&R were the college and the intact commercial heart of the city. Don’t just bypass Newberry, take a few hours and stop at one of Newberry’s antique shops, book stores, or restaurants. The old court house, a National Register site, is one of the finest in the state and well worth viewing.

Newberry County Courthouse

The Old Court House, erected 1852, was designed by Jacob Graves and built by James Damron. An outstanding example of Greek Revival architecture in stuccoed brick, the building has six fluted, Tuscan columns which support a massive, triangular pediment. The intricate Doric entablature includes a frieze design of alternating triglyphs and undecorated metopes and regulus of architrave and mutules of cornice decorated with guttae. The building’s elaborate detail and massive

Image of the courthouse square featuring the lovely old Courthouse. Image courtesy of the Wingard Postcard Collection

proportions attest to the affluence of pre-Civil War Newberry County. During Reconstruction, Osborne Wells was assigned the task of remodeling the courthouse. Wells’ additions included two-column porticos at side entrances and a bas-relief mounted on the frontal pediment. This bas-relief depicts the spirit of the prostrate state: a U.S. eagle holds an uprooted palmetto tree in its talons; perched upon the tree roots is a gamecock crowing defiantly; at the top of the tree a dove bears an olive branch. This building, the fourth in a series of five County Courthouses, was used for court sessions between 1852 and 1906. Listed in the National Register August 19, 1971. [Courtesy of the S.C. Dept. of Archives and History]

The relief work on the front of the court house was added in 1876 by Osborne Wells representing the defiant citizenship of Newberry County, S.C.

*Reprinted from South Carolina in the 1880s: A Gazetteer by J.H. Moore, Sandlapper Publishing Company – 1989

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Please enjoy this structure and all those listed in Roots and Recall. But remember each is private property. So view them from a distance or from a public area such as the sidewalk or public road.

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