{"nrhp_refnum":"74001784","name":"Franklin County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1 N. Main St., on Memorial Sq.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chambersburg","county":"Franklin County","state":"PA","lat":39.93757732200004,"lon":-77.66083425499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-01-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-a-half-story Greek Revival courthouse of Flemish bond brick at 1 North Main Street in Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, built in 1865 on the site of earlier courthouses. The architect is named as S. Hutton, with Samuel Seibert as superintendent of construction.","why_significant":"The document argues the courthouse is significant for its architectural merit as a Greek Revival public building and for its connection to the Civil War, when the second courthouse was burned by Confederate forces during the 1864 raid on Chambersburg. The rebuilding reused surviving walls and columns, and the 1902 rear addition followed the older style.","narrative":"Built in 1865 on the site of two earlier county courthouses, this two-and-a-half-story building of Flemish bond brick is a Greek Revival public structure at the center of Chambersburg. Its front portico has six freestanding Ionic columns and a pediment bearing the state emblem, and a clock cupola topped with a statue of Ben Franklin rises above the roof. The design was built on the walls and columns that survived the 1864 fire, when Confederate forces under John McCausland burned the second courthouse during a raid on the town after the citizens could not meet a demand for tribute. The architect is recorded as S. Hutton, with Samuel Seibert supervising construction. A rear addition of 1902 was built in matching style, with a straight rear stair and a courtroom finished in Greek Revival detail. The building is valued for its architecture and its link to the Civil War.","period_of_significance":"1786-1865","architect_builder":"S. Hutton (architect); Samuel Seibert (superintendent of construction)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Good condition as checked on the form; the 1902 addition is noted as an alteration.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.376674-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/74001784.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001784/fbf4b4cb63-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001784/fbf4b4cb63-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":null,"credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Memorial_Square_Chambersburg.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Memorial_Square_Chambersburg.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"82003789","name":"Chambersburg Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/chambersburg-historic-district-82003789/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994983","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_County_Courthouse_(Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1445199"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/franklin-county/franklin-county-courthouse-74001784/"}