Old Effingham County Courthouse, Springfield,GA

Last crawled date: 1 year, 4 months ago

The Effingham County Courthouse is a Palladian Version of Neo-classical Courthouse designed by Hyman Witcover in 1908 who was also architect for Savannah’s landmark City Hall. The building is a two story, rectangle, symmetrical, central hall plan with the starts on the west side of the building. The exterior is a red manufactured brick with white detailing. The roof is low pitched gable over the pediment and metal dome in the center of the entire structure. The front entrance is a portico with six massive ionic columns holding up a pediment. The pediment is supported by a steel frame to help hold the cement stucco to the wall. The first floor is bisected with four wings, reflecting the rotunda roof. The second floor is conference rooms, office spaces, and the main courtroom. The first floor was tiles with a terrazzo and the second floor has wooden floors and paneling. The courtroom has a balcony with the original chairs and constructed out of wood and steel support beams, and has decorative wood molding on the ceiling and two pot belling stoves. In 1933, bathrooms for women and “colored people” were added on the first floor and a jury room on the second floor. Original marble floor was replace by terrazzo. In 1979, office space added to the rear of the building with an ADA ramp access. After the restoration in 2010, the old court house won LEED Gold Certification. #springfieldeffinghamcourthouse