The York County Courthouse, located at 2 South Congress Street in downtown York, was designed by the prominent architect William Augustus Edwards. Edwards, a Darlington native, also designed five other South Carolina county courthouses: the Abbeville County Courthouse, the Lee County Courthouse, the Dillon County Courthouse, the Calhoun County Courthouse, and the Jasper County Courthouse.
The courthouse is designed in the cross-axis plan, prominent in Edwards’ work. The interior features Greek-key inlaid tile flooring with marble wainscoting and door surrounds with stairs at each end of the entrance hall. The courtroom is located on the second floor and features a plaster vaulted ceiling and an apse, a large semicircular or polygonal recess, which serves as a backdrop for the judges chair.
The York County Courthouse is listed in the National Historic Register, which notes the following architectural details:
York County Courthouse is significant as a courthouse design of prominent architect William Augustus Edwards. The courthouse is a monumental two-story yellow brick building constructed in 1914. The courthouse has the cross-axis plan common to Edwards courthouses with the façade at the south end of the longitudinal axis. The façade features a colossal Ionic tetrastyle portico, projecting from a three-bay entrance pavilion on the five-bay elevation. The portico is of stone as are the entablature and the basement story. The cornice is raked into a pediment, which features a central recessed medallion, with flanking triangular recesses, in its tympanum. The portico entablature is carried around the building, in simplified form. A broad attic story is located above the entablature. A second cornice, of bronze, is located above the attic story. This second cornice is also carried around the entire building. A hip roof, sheathed in tile, is pierced by four yellow brick chimneys. The west elevation and the rear elevation have two-story yellow brick additions which continue the proportioning of the original building without the attention to detail. The interior features tile floors with inlaid Greek key patterning, marble wainscoting and door surrounds, and stairs at both ends of the longitudinal hall. The courtroom on the second floor has a plaster vaulted ceiling, Tuscan pilasters lining the walls, and an apse at the north end, containing a wooded crossetted tabernacle frame, which serves as a backdrop for the judge’s seat.
Architectural Details – York County Courthouse
Courthouses Designed by William Augustus Edwards
Jasper County Courthouse
Re Mr. Freeman’s comments: I am working on an article that would give more specific details regarding when the flags (7 in all, that represent the various flags that have flown over the York area). The information has been difficult to verify but the flags were in place on 12 JAN 1977 per a photo in the Clover Herald. There was not a Battle Flag posted so that information is not correct. The flags displayed were: the Spanish flag used by Columbus, the French flag, the British Colonial flag, the SC flag (representing the republic of SC), the Bonnie Blue flag (the newspaper says “when SC seceded from the Union), the First National CSA flag (the Stars and Bars)and the Second National CSA flag. The courtroom was renovated at some point in time but have not been able to determine exactly when. It may be that the flags were placed at some time near the USA Bicentennial celebration.
I recently learned that unfortunately a decision was made not to return portraits of Gen. Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson along with a Confederate Battle Flag to their place of prominence inside the newly remodeled courthouse.
Being born of York County, as well as holding great reverence for these two great hero’s and the flag under which they fought, I would like to find out if there is a person of contact with whom I could discuss the possibility of purchasing/taking possession of these items for personal display and prosperity. Please respond if you can be of any help.
The York County Courthouse (SC) is now in the process of undergoing a complete and total restoration…to be restored to its natural beauty, . . . built in 1914