{"nrhp_refnum":"79002210","name":"Clearfield County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2nd and Market Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Clearfield","county":"Clearfield County","state":"PA","lat":41.02223691000006,"lon":-78.43752621399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-04-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Clearfield County Courthouse is a two-and-one-half story brick building with a square brick tower, located in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. It was built between 1860 and 1862 with later alterations in 1882-1884, and its builder is listed as George Thorn.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the courthouse is a very well preserved symbol of government and political life in the largest county in western Pennsylvania and one of the oldest surviving courthouses in the region. It is also presented as the focus of a concentration of Victorian architecture in downtown Clearfield. The survival of the 1860 building is described as unusual in western Pennsylvania, where most counties built third courthouses between 1890 and 1910.","narrative":"Built in 1860 on a contract awarded to George Thorn of Clearfield, the two-and-one-half story brick courthouse has a square central tower capped by a bell-shaped roof, a six-bay brick portico, and heavy dentils under boxed cornices. Its tower was rebuilt after an architectural error and was completed in 1862. An 1882 addition to the rear, by Thorn and Burchfield of Clearfield, altered the roof and upper portion and was finished by 1884. The courthouse is valued for its role as the center of county government and for the lawyers and public leaders associated with it. It is also regarded as one of the oldest surviving courthouses in the region, at a time when many early public buildings have been replaced. Its 1882 addition reflects the growth of the local lumber economy, and the building is linked to later iron, coal and industrial expansion in the county.","period_of_significance":"1860-1884","architect_builder":"George Thorn (builder/contractor); Thorn and Burchfield (1882 addition contract)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in 1979; the document describes the physical condition as excellent or good in the description checkboxes.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.589653-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/79002210.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002210/61332ab35f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002210/61332ab35f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clearfield_County_Courthouse_Apr_10.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog (talk)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clearfield_County_Courthouse_Apr_10.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995065","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearfield_County_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5130849"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/clearfield-county/clearfield-county-courthouse-79002210/"}