Hawkins County Courthouse
Encyclopedia
The Hawkins County Courthouse is the seat of county government for Hawkins County, Tennessee
, located in the city of Rogersville
. It was built in 1836, it is one of six antebellum
courthouses still in use in Tennessee
, and it is the oldest courthouse
still in use in the state.
was first organized in 1786 by the State of North Carolina
; Rogersville, then called Hawkins Courthouse, was selected as the county seat due to the diligence of its founder and tireless promoter, Joseph Rogers
(son-in-law to a prominent local settler, Colonel Thomas Amis, a French Huguenot
who worked with the Irish-born Rogers after Rogers wedded Amis' daughter Mary).
The seat of county government was first established in the back of Rogers' first tavern, a log structure that boasted an attached lean-to with jail-stocks
. In 1796, when Tennessee attained statehood, it was in this log structure that the vote was tallied and proclaimed. In 1810, the State set up a Circuit Court for Hawkins County, prompting the county justices to build a newer, larger log-and-clapboard structure on what had become Rogersville's Main Street (which corresponded to the Great Stage Road connecting Washington, D.C. with Knoxville and the Cumberland Gap to Kentucky). Chancery Court was first held in this building in 1825.
Dameron received the contract to build the new structure on November 28, 1836. Over the course of the next few weeks, Dameron chose a different style for the new courthouse than any of his previous Rogersville designs. Thomas Jefferson had drawn plans for a courthouse in Botetourt County, Virginia in 1818, and Dameron, who grew up near the Botetourt county seat of Fincastle, was familiar with Jefferson's design. Further, Dameron was familiar with Thomas Crutchfield's 1824 adaptation of Jefferson's Botetourt design (Crutchfield, too, was a native of Botetourt), the nearby Greene County Courthouse in Greeneville, Tennessee.
The original Dameron design includes all the elements of Jeffersonian style: the Hawkins County Courthouse is built of red bricks laid in the Fleming bond pattern; features all-white painted columns and trim; unfluted Tuscan columns; guilloche-patterned carving on the architrave of the thrice-repeated Palladian windows is also used in the roof cornice. Above a simple, double-doored main entrance is an elaborate double-door with a carved pediment adorned with dentils, fanlight and pilasters. On the first floor, twelve-over-twelve window openings are contrasted on the second floor with Palladian windows with Roman-arch keystone (a motif repeated in portico).
In the original design, a massive three-tiered tower is topped by a bell-shaped, copper cupola. The first and second tiers (which were of equal width) are cubic in shape, with large, Georgian-style painted shutters covering a false window opening. The third stage is octagonal, with Palladian-shaped, closed, Georgian-style painted shutters covering false openings . At the bottom of the cupola, the guilloche-patterned cornice molding was repeated with the octagonal bell cupola surmounted by a lightning-rod spire with a large, copper ball finial. Further Georgian influence can be detected in the original design's twin chimneys, which featured cornice-like molding that matched the dentils elsewhere on the structure. Inside the tower, in the third tier below the cupola, a large copper bell was used to call citizens to the courthouse for public functions (only twenty-five years later, in 1862, the bell was donated to the Confederacy, and shipped to Georgia to be melted down).
Today the Courthouse houses the General Sessions, Circuit
, and Chancery
Courts of Hawkins County; hosts numerous administrative county offices; and serves as the meeting place for the county legislative body, the Hawkins County Board of Commissioners.
(though the Rogersville Main Street program is presently working with the Hawkins County Mayor's Office to have the Courthouse added), but it is a contributing property
of the Rogersville Historic District
; as such, it is an historically-significant part of the reason that the district was itself included on the National Register.
Hawkins County, Tennessee
Hawkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 56,833. Its county seat is Rogersville, Tennessee's second-oldest town....
, located in the city of Rogersville
Rogersville, Tennessee
Rogersville is a town in Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. It was settled in 1775 by the grandparents of Davy Crockett and is the second-oldest town in the state. It is named for its founder, Joseph Rogers....
. It was built in 1836, it is one of six antebellum
Antebellum architecture
Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic neoclassical architectural style of the Southern United States, especially the Old South, from after the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War...
courthouses still in use in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, and it is the oldest courthouse
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
still in use in the state.
A new county seat
Hawkins CountyHawkins County, Tennessee
Hawkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 56,833. Its county seat is Rogersville, Tennessee's second-oldest town....
was first organized in 1786 by the State of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
; Rogersville, then called Hawkins Courthouse, was selected as the county seat due to the diligence of its founder and tireless promoter, Joseph Rogers
Joseph Rogers
Joseph Rogers was an Irish-born pioneer and settler who, with his father-in-law Thomas Amis, founded the town of Rogersville, Tennessee in 1789.-Early life:...
(son-in-law to a prominent local settler, Colonel Thomas Amis, a French Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
who worked with the Irish-born Rogers after Rogers wedded Amis' daughter Mary).
The seat of county government was first established in the back of Rogers' first tavern, a log structure that boasted an attached lean-to with jail-stocks
Pillory
The pillory was a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse, sometimes lethal...
. In 1796, when Tennessee attained statehood, it was in this log structure that the vote was tallied and proclaimed. In 1810, the State set up a Circuit Court for Hawkins County, prompting the county justices to build a newer, larger log-and-clapboard structure on what had become Rogersville's Main Street (which corresponded to the Great Stage Road connecting Washington, D.C. with Knoxville and the Cumberland Gap to Kentucky). Chancery Court was first held in this building in 1825.
Third courthouse needed
By 1835, the county, now boasting three towns (including Rogersville, Bulls Gap, and Surgoinsville), had outgrown its second, log-based courthouse, and the county set out to buy land and build a courthouse commensurate with growing Rogersville's new architectural prominence (as detailed below). The lot upon which the Courthouse now stands was purchased from Louisiana Rogers Mitchell, daughter of town founder Joseph Rogers, who had bequeathed it to her in his will after his death in 1833. In 1836, the Mitchells sold the lot to the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Hawkins County for $500. The justices planned to follow the patterns established in nearby Virginia and North Carolina in constructing their courthouse, and in 1836, they engaged John Dameron, the most prominent architect in the region, to draw up the plans for the new building.Architect chosen
The justices' choice of Dameron was in keeping with the architect's prior experience in Rogersville: he had already designed and overseen the construction of Rogersville's First Presbyterian Church (ca. 1821) in Federal style and the Hale Springs Inn (ca. 1824) in Georgian style (he would later build the Second Presbyterian Church (today's Rogersville Presbyterian Church, ca. 1840) in Greek Revival style).Dameron received the contract to build the new structure on November 28, 1836. Over the course of the next few weeks, Dameron chose a different style for the new courthouse than any of his previous Rogersville designs. Thomas Jefferson had drawn plans for a courthouse in Botetourt County, Virginia in 1818, and Dameron, who grew up near the Botetourt county seat of Fincastle, was familiar with Jefferson's design. Further, Dameron was familiar with Thomas Crutchfield's 1824 adaptation of Jefferson's Botetourt design (Crutchfield, too, was a native of Botetourt), the nearby Greene County Courthouse in Greeneville, Tennessee.
Plans for the new courthouse
The plan was basically an enlargement of the Botetourt design with the addition of a taller tower and a bell-shaped cupola with Georgian-style, copper finials. The Jeffersonian style chosen by Dameron combines Palladian proportions and themes with the late-Georgian neoclassicism characteristic of the early Republican period. Features included red brick construction; all-white painted columns; all-white painted trim; unfluted columns; Tuscan, Doric, Corinthian, or Ionic order capitals; portico-and-pediment primary entries; classical moldings; and square, round, octagonal, and fan-shaped windows or pediment openings.The original Dameron design includes all the elements of Jeffersonian style: the Hawkins County Courthouse is built of red bricks laid in the Fleming bond pattern; features all-white painted columns and trim; unfluted Tuscan columns; guilloche-patterned carving on the architrave of the thrice-repeated Palladian windows is also used in the roof cornice. Above a simple, double-doored main entrance is an elaborate double-door with a carved pediment adorned with dentils, fanlight and pilasters. On the first floor, twelve-over-twelve window openings are contrasted on the second floor with Palladian windows with Roman-arch keystone (a motif repeated in portico).
In the original design, a massive three-tiered tower is topped by a bell-shaped, copper cupola. The first and second tiers (which were of equal width) are cubic in shape, with large, Georgian-style painted shutters covering a false window opening. The third stage is octagonal, with Palladian-shaped, closed, Georgian-style painted shutters covering false openings . At the bottom of the cupola, the guilloche-patterned cornice molding was repeated with the octagonal bell cupola surmounted by a lightning-rod spire with a large, copper ball finial. Further Georgian influence can be detected in the original design's twin chimneys, which featured cornice-like molding that matched the dentils elsewhere on the structure. Inside the tower, in the third tier below the cupola, a large copper bell was used to call citizens to the courthouse for public functions (only twenty-five years later, in 1862, the bell was donated to the Confederacy, and shipped to Georgia to be melted down).
Renovations in 1870
The design was executed largely according to Dameron's plans, and remained intact for thirty-three years. In 1870, the main stairways, which Dameron had included inside the structure, were moved to the exterior in order to allow for greater room inside the main, second-floor courtroom. The structure then remain unchanged, except for the installation of a new bell and various maintenance updates, until 1929. In that year, the County Court authorized $42,000 for a new addition to the south end of the courthouse, and an updating of the rest of the building.Additions in 1929
As a part of the 1929 renovations, Dameron's original bell-shaped cupola and its second and third tower-tiers were removed. Using Dameron's tower's first tier as a base, the new design added two octagonal tiers, neither of which were as wide as the original Dameron first tier. The new second tier was approximately the same height as Dameron's old second tier, but instead of the Jeffersonian-inspired Georgian closed shutters, a traceried lunette was added on four sides of the octagonal tier. The lunette did, however, utilize the Roman-arch keystone motif from Dameron's Palladian windows to connect the new with the old. The new third tier was only about a fourth of the height of the new second tier, and it served primarily as a base for the most dramatic change in the tower: the addition of an octagonal, shuttered belfry. The new element was designed to the make the overall height of the tower greater. Surmounting the belfry was a New England-style octagonal, copper spire that was topped by a spear-shaped copper finial and simple weathervane. Both the new belfry and the new spire included Dameron's guilloche-patterned carving. In addition, the 1929 renovations saw the balcony which had been constructed in 1870 when the staircases had been moved to the exterior portico restored to the central, second-floor doorway, and the stairs were moved back into the interior.Annex added in 2000
Following the 1929 renovations, no major changes occurred to the Courthouse for seventy-two years. Then, in 2000, the Hawkins County government, now faced with burgeoning Kingsport suburbs in its eastern sections, had once again outgrown its courthouse. To accommodate the growth, the Hawkins County Commission (successor to the 1836 justices and 1929 County Court) purchased, remodeled, and restored the Mitchell Building (located just to the east of the Courthouse and built 1841) to serve as an Annex to the Courthouse for more courtrooms and for county office and archive space. As a part of these renovations, the exterior, eastern wall of the Courthouse was breached on its first and second floors in order to accommodate a glass-enclosed breezeway designed to connect the two buildings and provide elevator access for the Courthouse's second floor (via an elevator in the Mitchell Building).The courthouse today
Today, the Hawkins County Courthouse and its annex remain the home of all county courts and county offices, except for the Jail, Sheriffs Department, and County Mayor's office. County government is still carried on here each month when the County Commission meets in the second-floor courtroom. The Hawkins County Courthouse, having continuously served as the seat of county government for one hundred and seventy-three years , is the oldest Courthouse in Tennessee still used for that purpose.Today the Courthouse houses the General Sessions, Circuit
Circuit court
Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...
, and Chancery
Chancery Court
The Chancery Court of York is an ecclesiastical court for the Province of York of the Church of England.The presiding officer, the Official Principal and Auditor, has been the same person as the Dean of the Arches since the nineteenth century . The Court comprises the Auditor, two clergy and two...
Courts of Hawkins County; hosts numerous administrative county offices; and serves as the meeting place for the county legislative body, the Hawkins County Board of Commissioners.
National Register of Historic Places
The Courthouse is not listed as an entry on the U.S. National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
(though the Rogersville Main Street program is presently working with the Hawkins County Mayor's Office to have the Courthouse added), but it is a contributing property
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
of the Rogersville Historic District
Rogersville Historic District
The Rogersville Historic District is a historic district in Rogersville, Tennessee, USA. It was established by the Town of Rogersville to safeguard, preserve, and protect hundreds of unique and historically significant structures in and around the town's downtown area...
; as such, it is an historically-significant part of the reason that the district was itself included on the National Register.