Old Courthouse
Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
First courthouse for Adams County stood in old Center Square from 1804 to 1859. The land for the Square was given by James Gettys.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
From 1804 to 1859, the first courthouse of Adams County stood in Gettysburg's old Center Square, on land given by town founder James Gettys. A county's first courthouse was the heart of its civic life — where justice was administered, records kept, and the young community governed itself in the decades of the early republic. The building is long gone, but the square it anchored remains the center of the town Gettys laid out.
Why it matters
County courthouses were the building blocks of self-government in the new United States, and this one marks how a frontier town organized itself into a functioning seat of law and civic order.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- The David Wills House Museumnearby · 8 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- Ticket to the Past - Unforgettable Journeysnearby · 35 Carlisle Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Gettysburg Museum of History0.2 mi away · 219 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Shriver House Museum0.3 mi away · 309 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Jennie Wade House Gifts0.5 mi away · 548 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Casteel Sculptures0.6 mi away · 789 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
Attractions
- John Eisenhower Bridge3.0 mi away · Waterworks Road
- Sachs Covered Bridge3.3 mi away
- Sachs Covered Bridge3.3 mi away · Waterworks Road, Gettysburg, PA
Food & drink
- Starbucksnearby · 1 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- One Lincolnnearby · 1 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- Blue & Gray Bar & Grillnearby · 2 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Borough BBQnearby · 15 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- The Pub & Restaurantnearby · 20-22 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- Beef Jerky Experiencenearby · 1 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, PA
Places to stay
- Gettysburg Hotelnearby · 1 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- The Inn at Lincoln Squarenearby · 12 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- The LaVerne Private Guesthousenearby · 27 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- The Brafferton Innnearby · 44 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- The Union Hotelnearby · 27 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Tillie Pierce House Inn0.3 mi away · 301 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.
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Related people
- · James Gettys
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Manor of Maske
Straban Township, PA · est. 1954
Surveyed in 1766 and named for an English estate, the Manor of Maske was one of the great reserved tracts the Penn family set aside for themselves in colonial Pennsylvania — roughly six miles wide and twelve long, reaching south to what became the Mason-Dixon Line. This marker stands near its eastern boundary, a reminder of how the proprietors mapped and held vast blocks of land even as settlers pressed in around them. It was the second largest of the Penns' reserved estates in the colony.
Manor of Maske
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Surveyed in 1766 and named for an estate in England, the Manor of Maske was a sprawling tract — some six by twelve miles — that the Penn family reserved for itself, its southern edge running along what became the Mason-Dixon Line. This marker stands near the manor's western boundary, one of two that trace the outline of the second largest reserved Penn estate in Pennsylvania. Together they map the reach of proprietary landholding on the eve of the Revolution.
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John "Hance" Steelman, born to Swedish parents along the Delaware in 1655, spent a long life as an Indian trader and interpreter across Maryland and Pennsylvania. Fluent in the languages of commerce and diplomacy on a shifting frontier, he became the first European settler in this Adams County valley. The tablet marking his memory was first placed in 1924 and renewed for the nation's bicentennial.
Rock Chapel
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