Courthouses have historically played a central role in their communities, serving as the place where many of life’s most significant events would take place. The courthouse was not only a forum to conduct civil and criminal trials, but also a place to obtain a marriage license, register a birth, and probate a will. We have previously featured photos of the Old Salem County Courthouse in New Jersey and the Jefferson County, West Virginia, Courthouse where the abolitionist John Brown was tried for his attack on the arsenal in Harpers Ferry as part of an effort to end slavery.
Our picture of the week is the historic courthouse in Citrus County, Florida, which features an impressive cupola. Situated in the downtown district of the county seat of Inverness, this courthouse was built in 1912, replacing a wooden, Victorian structure that formerly occupied the site. The county outgrew this courthouse in the 1970s, and a more modern, larger structure was constructed across the street. This historic courthouse seemed a likely candidate for demolition by the 1990s, but fortunately members of the local historical society stepped in. The courthouse was restored and repurposed as the Old Courthouse Heritage Museum, a museum where patrons can explore books, photos, oral histories, and artifacts related to the history of Citrus County.
Do you have a favorite historic courthouse? Let us know in the comments.