Chowan County Courthouse
Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Chowan County Courthouse. Oldest courthouse in use in North Carolina. Built about 1767. Whig centre in Revolution. Stands 3 blocks S.E.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Built about 1767, the Chowan County Courthouse is the oldest courthouse still in use in North Carolina and one of the finest Georgian public buildings in the South. During the Revolution it served as a gathering place for local Whigs who backed the Patriot cause. For more than two and a half centuries it has remained a working seat of county government.
Why it matters
The courthouse is a rare, living link to colonial civic life and the local politics that helped feed the American Revolution.
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