{"nrhp_refnum":"81000550","name":"Old Lehigh County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5th and Hamilton Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Allentown","county":"Lehigh County","state":"PA","lat":40.603802030000054,"lon":-75.46744464599993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-09-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Law","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A free-standing county courthouse at the civic centre of Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, built in stages from 1814 to 1916 and comprising four connected sections. It occupies a site bounded by Hamilton, Fifth and Court Streets and a pedestrian alley.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is the oldest public building in Allentown and the only Italianate style public building there, and that its 1864 remodelling by Williamsport architect Eber Culver gives it a picturesque, mid-19th century character. It also cites the 1914-16 Beaux Arts style north addition as an outstanding example of monumental early 20th century public architecture, and the building's long role as the county's court and government centre.","narrative":"Built in stages on a Hamilton Street site in Allentown, the courthouse began as a stone Federal style building completed in 1819, when court was first held there in 1817. Its 1864 remodelling by Eber Culver, a Williamsport carpenter-builder, added the Italianate cruciform block, bracketed eaves, a three-stage wooden cupola and a Palladian window on the Hamilton Street pavilion. An 1880-81 brick law library wing followed. The 1914-16 north addition by Henry Anderson has light gray granite walls and an ornate courtroom. The building housed county courts and offices from 1817 to 1965, and it is regarded locally for its courtroom and for the long Camp and Zimmerman land litigation heard there. Its surviving 1864 interior and its architectural and civic associations were the main reasons for its listing.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Eber Culver (architect, 1864 remodelling); Henry Anderson (architect, 1914-16 addition); Butz & Clader (contractor, 1914-16 addition)","architectural_style":"Italianate; Beaux Arts; Federal","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Used as a county museum, county offices, a historical society and an auditorium, with the 1914-16 courtroom occupied by a federal court; the building was designated a historical park in 1971.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.58651-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/81000550.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000550/3e64fdb996-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000550/3e64fdb996-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2011_-_Old_Lehigh_County_Courthouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2011_-_Old_Lehigh_County_Courthouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994481","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Lehigh_County_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084360"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/lehigh-county/old-lehigh-county-courthouse-81000550/"}