{"nrhp_refnum":"71000567","name":"Beaufort County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Corner of W. 2nd and Market Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Washington","county":"Beaufort County","state":"NC","lat":35.543225508000035,"lon":-77.05428783599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-03-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick county courthouse at the corner of West Second and Market Streets in Washington, Beaufort County, North Carolina, built about 1786 and later extended and topped with a clock tower.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the courthouse is one of the earliest permanent public buildings in North Carolina. It was built after the county court moved from Bath to Washington in 1785-86, and it has served continuously as the seat of county government and a meeting place for prominent local figures.","narrative":"Built about 1786, the Beaufort County Courthouse in Washington, North Carolina, is a two-story brick building measuring roughly 42 by 42 feet, laid in Flemish bond on a high water table. A two-bay rear addition and a square clock tower with a four-faced clock were added later. The three-bay east facade has a divided lunette in the gable and a paneled double-door entrance. Inside, a center-passage plan on the first floor has been heavily altered, while the second-floor courtroom keeps its stepped gallery seating and a balustrade with scroll-saw balusters. The building owes its existence to the decline of Bath as a port, which led the General Assembly in 1785 to move the county courthouse to Washington, on a public lot set aside in 1776. Since completion it has served continuously as the seat of county government and is among the earliest permanent public buildings in North Carolina.","period_of_significance":"18th Century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in good condition, altered, on its original site and occupied; in continuous use as the seat of Beaufort County government.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:55.747355-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/13/7190/47719013/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/71000567.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000567/183abd32ef-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000567/183abd32ef-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tradewinds","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beaufort_County_Courthouse.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Tradewinds</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beaufort_County_Courthouse.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"79001661","name":"Washington Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/washington-historic-district-79001661/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719013","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_County_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17985793"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/beaufort-county/beaufort-county-courthouse-71000567/"}