Thomas U. Walter designed the Chester County Courthouse in 1846

In 1846, architect Thomas U. Walter was commissioned to design a new courthouse for West Chester, Pennsylvania, to replace an inadequate building. Ground was broken in early 1846, and the cornerstone was placed on 4 July. The project had a total cost of $55,345.98, and the courthouse was completed in late 1847. By December of that year, the building was fully in use.

The courthouse was later expanded to accommodate an uptick in cases. In 1891, T. Roney Williamson designed a western addition constructed from Indiana Limestone. This annex was finished in early 1893 at a cost of $116,446.53, allowing both the original and the new courtrooms to be used simultaneously. Another addition was added in 1966, and the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

The building also became the site of a legal dispute regarding a Ten Commandments plaque gifted to the county in 1920. Following a series of court orders between 2002 and 2003, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit eventually allowed the continued exhibition of the tablet. Today, the courthouse remains a historic landmark at 10 North High Street.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons