Huntingdon's Grand Courthouse Towers Over

Did you know? Huntingdon tore down a courthouse people loved, and fifty five years later they were still sore about it.

The county's second courthouse went up in 1842 on the ground the present one stands on. The 1937 sesqui-centennial history describes it as "a beautiful colonial structure, with tall white columns across the front and a beautiful white colonial belfry." Then this, from the same page: "Unfortunately that beautiful building, which should have been preserved was torn down and the present one erected in 1882."

Here is how the replacement happened. A grand jury laid out what was wrong with the old building, including that "witness-rooms, jury-rooms, and convenient out-buildings are deemed a public necessity." The grand jury endorsed that report at the January sessions of 1882 and the court agreed.

Several plans came in. The commissioners chose one drawn by M. E. Beebe of Buffalo, New York. Six bids were opened, running from $71,300 up to $93,140.50, and the contract went to Henry Snare and Company at the lowest figure.

That June the county moved its offices into temporary quarters at the Morrison House, on the northeast corner of Third and Allegheny, and began pulling the old building down. By the twenty fourth of November the brickwork on the new courthouse had been carried almost to the top of the second story.

So the building on that corner today is the third one. The one before it had white columns, and at least one man in 1937 never got over losing it.

Which building in this county would you not want to lose? Tell us which one.

What the fact check changed. SUPERSEDES MY OWN VERDICT FROM 09:50 TODAY, with a third source that turns a thin post into a good one. Four sources checked, none of them carries it. Still UNSOURCED, still not FALSE. WHAT THE NEW BOOK DID GIVE: the 1937 Souvenir Historical Book, published for the county's sesqui-centennial, describes the 1842 courthouse that the present one replaced and openly mourns it. "It was a beautiful colonial structure, with tall white columns across the front and a beautiful white colonial belfry. Unfortunately that beautiful building, which should have been preserved was torn down and the present one erected in 1882." That is a named, dated, published local voice grieving a demolition fifty five years after it happened, and it is a far better post than a tower height would have been. DATE HANDLED, NOT PICKED: the queued post called it "Huntingdon's 1883 courthouse." The 1937 book says "erected in 1882." Africa 1883 shows the brickwork only reaching the second story on November 24, which means it was not finished in 1882. The sources do not agree on a single completion year, so the post asserts none. It says the 1842 building came down and the present one went up starting in 1882, which both sources support. ALSO STILL CUT: "has dominated the town skyline for nearly 145 years" is both an unsourced scope claim and bad arithmetic, since 1882 to 2026 is 144 years and 1883 to 2026 is 143. ORDINAL CORRECTED: the present courthouse is the county's THIRD, not its second. Africa and the 1937 book agree on the sequence: the first stood in the middle of Third Street between Penn and Allegheny, the second went up in 1842 on the present site, and the third replaced it.

Sources

Checked 2026-08-01 · County history, independently fact checked

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