Colonial Courthouse - York, PA
N 39° 57.678 W 076° 43.922
18S E 352066 N 4424898
This is a favorite Lincoln Highway attraction among locals and visitors alike. At first glance, this really looks like a 200+ year old Georgian courthouse. This part of the Lincoln Highway gets mobbed by tourists as there is so much to see and do.
Waymark Code: WM9B0Q
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 07/24/2010
Views: 6
An entire brick court house was constructed in 1776 to commemorate the country's bicentennial and to remind York of its prominent role in our nation's independence. Parking is street side of the famous Lincoln Highway overlooking the Codorus Creek. The original Colonial Court House stood in the Court House Square until 1841 when it was demolished. The founding fathers laid the foundation for the infant nation here & coined the phrase "The United States of America".
The Colonial Courthouse replica on West Market Street in 1976 looks very authentic and I did not realize it was a reconstruction until I read the markers when I returned home the next day. The replica of the original 1750s York County Court House was built as part of 200th anniversary festivities of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. It was dedicated May 1, 1976.
The building is part of something called the Colonial Complex. There are other building, authentic ones from the 1700's and they can all be visited. You can visit a reconstruction of the Court House where the Congress met during York's nine-month tenure as Capital of the United States just across the street from the Plough Tavern, which is also old as heck. (Tours begin in the Colonial Complex yard, located behind the General Gates House. Tours are offered at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., & 3 p.m. For more information call 717-846-6452.)
There are several historical markers on the courthouse property. All of them deal with 1776 history, and some about the courthouse (see gallery).
Address
York County Colonial Court House
205 West Market Street
York, PA 17401-1007
United States
I also found the following on the Susquehanna Heritage website:
America was born in York’s Colonial Courthouse. The original was constructed in what is known today as Continental Square. During the American Revolution the Second Continental Congress fled to York for safety and adopted the Articles of Confederation, in which the words "United States of America" first appeared. Congress worked at York’s Courthouse from September 30,1777 to June 27, 1778, adopting our nation’s first Constitution.Though the original building was torn down in 1841, it was rebuilt in 1976 by the York Bicentennial Commission and sits at the intersection of West Market and Codorus Creek. Like the original, the recreated building is designed in the English-style, Georgian architecture. It features a cupola, end chimneys and a gabled roof. SOURCE