Brief History of the Columbia County Courthouse

courtesy of
The Columbia County Historical and Genealogical Society

Back to Columbia County History

The first Columbia County Courthouse in Bloomsburg was constructed in 1848 from the design of Napoleon LeBrun, Architect. This first courthouse represents the core of the existing building. In 1868, a twenty-five foot enlarging addition was added to the rear of the building. In 1890 there was a major addition to the building complex in front of the original. In effect, due to the massive scale and major stylistic changes, it represents the second courthouse in the county's history.

This second building was designed by A.S. Wagner and constructed by Mathias Shaffer, builder.

The building is eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

Design & Detailing
The main portion of the courthouse is a brick and brownstone Romanesque Revival structure of asymmetrical proportions. A large five-story clock tower with a pyramidal roof is situated at the center front of the building. At the right side of the tower is a three and one-half story, steeply gabled wing four bays wide with rectangular windows and belt courses on the first and second floors and round arched windows with hood moldings both on the third floor and in the gable end. The other side of the building has a hipped roof with dormers; it is three and on-half stories tall, but lower than the gable end. A porch with wide arched openings and a balustrade above runs the width of the hipped-roof section and the tower defines the remainder. 

above: detail of stone column on south side of Court House