WELCOME | The County Seats & Courthouses of Pennsylvania | WELCOME |
Pennsylvania has sixty-six
counties with county seats plus the combination county-city of
Philadelphia. This section includes a map of each county seat and
a view of the courthouse, or in Philadelphia's case, City Hall.
The maps are a diverse collection of different eras and types: most are street maps from the classic county atlases of the nineteenth century, also lithograph bird's eye views mostly by T. M. Fowler, maps from general atlases, road maps, and tourist brochures. A couple are not maps at all, but panoramic photographs. Some of the county seats are small towns off the beaten path and few large scale maps have been made of them. The county seat name is a link to a modern Internet street and aerial map from MapQuest.Com for a contemporary view. For orientation, the circa 1880 Pennsylvania map below shows the counties with the county seat names in bolder type. A Sanborn insurance map of any of the county seats can be found here.
The 2000 population of each county seat is given as a guide to relative size. The five largest cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, and Reading; all are county seats. At the other end of the scale, the borough of Laporte in Sullivan County has around 300 people. Twenty-three county seats are cities, the rest are boroughs. An 1874 act created "classes" for Pennsylvania cities. Philadelphia, as one could guess, is the only First Class city and Pittsburgh is the only Second Class city. Scranton is the only Second Class A city; this peculiar designation was created in 1927 to separate it from Pittsburgh. All other cities are Third Class. These are legal designations allowing legislation affecting only certain places (usually Philadelphia or Pittsburgh) without having to name them. This contrivance (apparently) meets the constitutional requirement that all laws be general. Being a city is not a good indicator of population in this suburban age; boroughs and townships in built-up areas can have larger populations than the smaller cities, sometimes much larger.
Pennsylvania
is fortunate in having a book written about its courthouses: County
Courthouses of Pennsylvania - A Guide, by
Oliver P. Williams. It is now slightly dated as new courthouses
have appeared and renovations done
on some others; however, this
is an excellent guide for visiting the county seats, viewing the
courthouses and learning about their architecture and history.
For the western counties, Smith & Swetnam is a handy guide
with information on many interesting sites within each county
besides the courthouses, though also now dated. The county name
is a link to a county website, some of which lead to further
information on their courthouse. For an architectural description of many (though not all) courthouses, see the books by Donnelly and Thomas.
The State
Library
maintains a list of county
historical societies and another information source is List
of Pennsylvania County Seats - Wikipedia
.
The
oldest courthouse
in Pennsylvania still
extant (perhaps the oldest in the country, and shown at left in
an old woodcut) is a stone and rubble building in Chester,
Delaware County, built in 1724 and now a museum. In many counties,
particularly in the west, the first courthouse was made of logs.
The only surviving
example
is in Waynesburg,
Greene County, dating from 1796. The oldest relatively unaltered
courthouse
still in use as such
is in Bedford County, built in 1828. Courthouses are often
amalgamations of different buildings and rebuildings as the need
for space grew and modern utilities were added, and dating them
becomes conjectural. Views of long departed courthouses shown
here come from the classic county atlases and old history books
by Day and Egle.
Courthouses
represent a continuum of civic mood from secular temple to
utilitarian tool. A temple is worthy of decoration and investment,
and projects a sense of pride, for example, the Luzerne County
courthouse. A utilitarian tool should be sturdy and functional,
with little sense of show. Courthouses of the latter twentieth
century, as in Indiana County, reflect this view. Some
exceptional buildings, such as the Allegheny County courthouse,
encompass both approaches, being utterly functional while still
presenting a sense of purpose
and achievement to the community.
The
simple days of yesteryear when all the functions of a courthouse
could be accomodated in one building are long gone for most
counties. Some of the functions to be expected today are
displayed on this
sign
from outside the (very large)
Delaware County courthouse.
Although an older courthouse
may exist, its function can be spread through additions, annexes,
and complexes of buildings, usually in the neighborhood but not
always adjacent. Many county courthouses are the dominant
building in the downtown of the county seat and easy to find.
Even in Philadelphia, the enormous City Hall is hard to miss.
However, in some of the larger towns inquiries may be necessary
for tourists. The location of the present courthouse is shown on
the historical maps by a red dot , and the
Internet maps mentioned above are centered on them. Courthouses are
public buildings and can be visited during normal working hours,
although nowadays a search procedure must be endured and photos
are seldom allowed inside.
There are six pages covering the county seats and courthouses, arranged alphabetically by county. Corrections and further information on county seats and courthouses is welcome and can be sent to the address on the home page. This site may be searched using the search engine below.
Home Page | 16th Century Maps | 17th Century Maps | 18th Century Maps | 19th Century Maps | 20th Century Maps | References |