{"nrhp_refnum":"79001714","name":"Guilford County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Market St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Greensboro","county":"Guilford County","state":"NC","lat":36.072244160000025,"lon":-79.79264211399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-05-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The old Guilford County Courthouse is a five-story Neo-Classical Revival (Renaissance Revival) public building in the center of Greensboro, North Carolina, built 1918-1920 and designed by architect Harry Barton.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as one of architect Harry Barton's most imposing Neo-Classical Revival courthouses and one of North Carolina's most sophisticated classical public buildings. It was the county's seventh courthouse and served as the seat of county government from 1920. It also forms a harmonious link with the modern county complex built around it in the 1970s.","narrative":"Guilford County Courthouse is a five-story classical building at the heart of Greensboro's government center. Designed by Greensboro architect Harry Barton and built by William P. Rose, it opened in April 1920 and replaced a courthouse from 1873 that was demolished in 1919. It was the county's seventh courthouse, following a line of structures that began with a log building in 1773. The symmetrical east and west facades have ashlar walls above a rusticated basement, fluted Ionic pilasters, a stone balustrade and a pedimented six-column portico. Inside, marble wainscots, molded ceiling beams and iron stair railings accompany a two-story second-floor courtroom with Corinthian pilasters, Doric columns, a coffered ceiling and tablets of the Ten Commandments. In 1974 the building became part of a complex with two modern structures on a terraced plaza. Its form and materials harmonize with the newer buildings, and it is regarded as one of North Carolina's most sophisticated classical public buildings.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Harry Barton, architect; William P. Rose, builder","architectural_style":"Neo-Classical Revival (also described as Renaissance Revival)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Served as a courthouse from 1920; since 1974 it has been part of a county government complex combining the old and new courthouses.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:57.46391-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/71/7179/47717971/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/79001714.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001714/a7b2aceaeb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001714/a7b2aceaeb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Rhpotter","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guilford_County_Courthouse_(Greensboro,_North_Carolina)_1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Rhpotter</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:Guilford_County_Courthouse_(Greensboro,_North_Carolina)_1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717971","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilford_County_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18706146"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/guilford-county/guilford-county-courthouse-79001714/"}