Greene County Courthouse in Jefferson

Greene County was named for Nathaniel Greene, a general in the American Revolutionary War.

Greene County’s first courthouse in Jefferson was a simple frame structure built in 1856. Prior to that, court business was held in a log cabin belonging to Judge William Phillips about four miles southeast of Jefferson.

The second courthouse was completed in 1870. The brick courthouse had a bell in the cupola that rang to signal court as well as fire alarms. Water, electric lights, and telephone were added during renovations in the 1890’s.

Today’s courthouse, a three-story Beaux Arts building designed by Proudfood, Bird, and Rawson, was completed in 1917. Its exterior walls are crafted with Bedford limestone, and features a central rotunda that allows light to shine through the stained glass ceiling to the mosaic tile seal of Greene County on the rotunda floor. The Greene County courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Visit the Greene County web site for more information.

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