Spotlight: Olde Burlington County Courthouse

The Olde Burlington County Courthouse in Mount Holly has been described by Fenimore C. Woolman, a noted architectural historian, as “one of our priceless American architectural inheritances, standing virtually as it was built, an enduring memorial to the most elegant period in early American architectural history. Its very dignity precludes any idea of unseemly conduct or lack of majesty in the administration of the business of meting out Justice.”

The building is considered one of the oldest courthouses in continuous use in the country. The first Burlington County Courthouse was not located in Mount Holly, but in Burlington City, the original county seat. Francis Collins was commissioned to design and build the courthouse for 100 pounds and a tract of land. It was constructed in 1693 and was located at the intersection of High and Broad streets.

By 1795, the building was so dilapidated that the county freeholders refused to appropriate funds for its repair. It took an act of the state Legislature to authorize the construction of a new courthouse and enable the citizens to vote as to where it should be located. Candidates for the honor were Black Horse, now known as Columbus, Mount Holly and Burlington City.

A special election was held in February 1795. The polling place was the Town Hall in Mount Holly. After the 3,250 votes were counted, Mount Holly won with 1676 votes compared to 1,432 for Burlington and 142 for Black Horse. Cross charges of fraud were hurled between Mount Holly and Burlington City. Legend has it that the “charcoal burners” from the Pine Barrens came to the polls to vote in the morning with blackened faces, cast their votes in favor of Mount Holly, then returned in the afternoon freshly washed and voted for Mount Holly again. Mount Holly prevailed in the vote and was declared the new seat of the county government and the site of the new courthouse. Land was purchased from Joseph Powell for 210 pounds. Three commissioners from Mount Holly - Joseph Budd, a clock maker; Richard Cox, a mill owner; and Zachariah Russell, proprietor of the Black Horse Tavern - were empowered to draw up plans for the new courthouse.

Michael Rush, a carpenter from Mount Holly, was employed and was superintended by Samuel Lewis, a master carpenter, who had helped build Congress Hall in Philadelphia. By one account, the total cost of the courthouse construction was $14,624.56. The first session of the court was held on the first Tuesday of November 1796. John Lacy, Isaac Cowgill, Josiah Foster and Ebenezer Tucker were the judges. Samuel J. Reed was appointed clerk of the court because the commission of John Lawrence had expired. John Smick was the court crier. The interior of the building has been greatly altered. Originally, there was a large folding door in the center of the front hall. There was a raised platform in the center of the courtroom where the jurors and the lawyers sat. On each side of the entrance, there was a gallery for the spectators. At the front of the room, there was the judges’ bench and a long desk for the clerk and the sheriff. However, the original trim remains over the doors and windows as does the beautiful interior stairway.

Two plentiful regional materials, marble and brick, compose the building’s exterior façade. The brick building was initially decorated with white trim. Later, the brick was painted white and the trim was changed to dark green.

The inclusion of a cupola, decorative detailing along the roofline, an elliptical dormer window and the building’s symmetrical plan identify the courthouse as Federal in style.

There are additional features of the Burlington County Courthouse that reflect its Federal style, a refined variation of Georgian style. The five equally spaced upper-story windows, for example, are positioned directly above their counterparts below, resulting in a balanced appearance. A belt course externally divides the two stories.

Each of the courthouse’s large windows is adorned with shutters. Across the lower level on the front face of the building, two large round-headed windows evenly flank the central doorway, and a marble coat of arms is displayed within a classical pediment. With its narrow sidelights, pilasters, thin frame, and elegant ornamentation, the entrance serves as a focal point for the courthouse. The fanlight above the doorway further emphasizes this area of interest. The New Jersey coat of arms over the doorway was sculpted by John Johann Eckstein.

Eckstein, who immigrated to Philadelphia in 1794, was a renowned painter and sculptor at the Prussian Court. He was best known for his death mask of Frederick the Great.

The coat of arms was a gift of Isaac Hazelhurst, reputedly as payment to the board of freeholders for curving the direct road from the Burlington County Courthouse to the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold so that it did not cut through his property in Clover Hill.

The building has an octagonal open cupola that houses the courthouse bell. The county bell was cast in England in 1755 and purchased for 29 pounds, 10 shillings.

The bell was first located in Burlington, where tradition maintains that it rang to announce the Declaration of Independence in 1776. When the county seat was relocated to Mount Holly, the bell was moved by horse and wagon and installed in the new courthouse, where it remains.

A lock-up in the basement for prisoners was ordered prepared in 1798 at a cost of 50 pounds. Around 1810, when it became necessary to incarcerate more defendants than could be accommodated in the basement of the courthouse, the county arranged to build a stone prison next door.

In 1807, the surrogate’s office on one side of the courthouse and the clerk’s office on the other side were built. This grouping is similar in configuration to the famous grouping of Independence Hall, Congress Hall, and the Supreme Court building in Philadelphia, creating a “little Independence Row.” An old Revolutionary War cannon is mounted in the courtyard.