First Columbia County Courthouse
| First Columbia County Courthouse | |||
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| National Register of Historic Places | |||
 West entrance of the building |
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| location | Claverack , Columbia County , New York | ||
| Coordinates | 42 ° 13 '23 " N , 73 ° 44' 32" W | ||
| Built | 1786 | ||
| Architectural style | Federal style | ||
| NRHP number | 97001623 | ||
| The NRHP added | 1998 | ||
The First Columbia County Courthouse is a former judicial and administrative building on New York State Route 23B in Claverack , Columbia County in the US -amerikanischen State New York . It is a brick building that was built in the Federal style in 1786 and renovated in the mid-19th century.
At the time, Claverack was the administrative seat of Columbia County . The courthouse was used in this capacity for twenty years until Hudson replaced Claverack as the county seat in the vicinity. Martin Van Buren was active in this court, and probably Alexander Hamilton too . The People v. Croswell , in which the journalist Harry Croswell had to answer for his criticism of President Thomas Jefferson , was first heard here.
When the courthouse era ended, it was used as a meeting house, but was later converted into a residential building. It was inscribed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
building
The building is on the north side of State Route 23B, on the western corner of Old Lane, across from the also on-registry Stephen Hogeboom House . The neighborhood is residential and consists of other houses from the 18th and 19th centuries. The building stands in the front area of a 3000 m² parcel on which there are two other structures, a modern garage and a gazebo . Both are modern and therefore do not contribute to the historical character of the monument.
Exterior
The former courthouse itself is a two-story brick building on a stone foundation and spans five to four bays . The gable roof is covered with folded sheet metal. It is finished off at the eaves by a wide frieze and a molded cornice .
On the north side there is a two-story side wing, which itself has a two-story side wing in wooden frame construction . On the west side there is a one-story extension with a flat roof .
The front (south facade) is dominated by the main entrance. This has a portico supported by fluted columns with a flat roof and deep-drawn cornice. Side windows and a fighter window line the entrance with the two Doric columns and the lintel supported by these with the shaped upper edge and the attached teeth.
On the east side there are three windows on the ground floor and two on the floor above. The gable field, clad with wooden planks, has a large skylight. The other two sides are ruled by their respective side wings.
interior
The narrow central hall now consists of two rooms of the same size. It once ran over the entire depth of the structure. The brick wing was extensively rebuilt for its current use as an apartment. The bricked-up fireplace is visible in the brick wall. The side wing does not have a cellar. The timber frame extension was also redesigned.
In the basement of the main wing, a load-bearing wall was installed that runs parallel to the east side of the hall. Two old chamfered posts under the southwest room were replaced to support the room.
history
The building was used as a courthouse for the first two decades of its existence. During this time, a number of prominent lawyers at the time worked here, and a fundamental decision in the legal history of the United States also began here. It then served as a meeting house. A century later, the interior was extensively renovated and remodeled when it was converted into apartments.
1786-1806: Courthouse
Columbia County was formed in 1786 and Claverack was designated its administrative seat. That year one of the residents, Gabriel Esselstyne, transferred the property to the county for a payment of ₤ 20. Local bricklayer William Ludlow began construction in July 1786. Some reports state that it took two years to build and cost ₤ 3,600 to build. The courthouse was at the intersection of two major roads: the old Native American road through the area that later became the Columbia Turnpike toll road and is now followed by State Routes 23 and 23B, and the original Albany Post Road .
The courthouse had a small annex at the back that served as a prison, and nearby was a pillory where public flogging was carried out and a gallows as a place of execution. The pillory no longer exists, the location of the gallows tree is no longer known.
The first court sessions were held in 1787 while construction was still going on, with Judge Judge Peter Van Ness presiding over the negotiations. Among the attorneys sworn into the county's new bar association were some of the state's best-known attorneys at the time, including William Peter Van Ness , Ambrose Spencer , Thomas P. Grosvenor, and Peter van Schaack , men who would later serve as judges and served in public offices in the new state. The future US President Martin Van Buren from nearby Kinderhook began his career with cases negotiated here. It is quite likely that Alexander Hamilton walked in and out of the building as well, as an ongoing legal battle involving his involvement over land in what is now Hillsdale was going on here .
In the early years of the 19th century, a fundamental decision regarding a defamation suit under the 1st Amendment to the United States' Constitution began here when the young Hudson journalist Harry Croswell, who supported the Federalist Party , met President Thomas Jefferson and his followers in attacked a small newspaper called The Wasp (German: Die Wespe ). This prompted Ambrose Spencer, then Attorney General of the state, to file a lawsuit against Croswe by a grand jury in 1803 for violating the Sedition Act in two cases.
Spencer personally led the lawsuit, and Croswell was convicted. He appealed to what is now known as the New York Supreme Court, the highest court in the state. In a six-hour defense speech, Hamilton argued that truthful statements of fact cannot be defamatory. The judges could not come to an agreement, and Croswell was not convicted or retried. In 1805, the New York State Legislature incorporated Hamilton's argument into state law.
Also in 1805 the seat of the county was moved to Hudson, which had become an important center due to its importance in whaling . Trials continued in Claverack for a year before the new courthouse was completed there. However, many lawyers and judges stayed in Claverack as the two locations were not far from each other and the journey between the two locations was not long.
1807 to the present
Even after the court moved out, the building enjoyed a high reputation among the population. Its high ceilings made it ideal as a meeting place, and it was also used for educational and dance events. In 1843 the county sold the building to the Brooklyn merchant Peter Hoffman, who had moved here. He gave the building some elements of neoclassicism during his renovations, especially through the portico, which mirrored the portico of Hogeboom House across the street.
By the end of the 19th century, a number of owners replaced; they were all former residents of New York City . During this period, the kitchen wing was built on the back using a wooden stand construction. Some of these residents had further renovations carried out so that the house received mixed urban - such as the narrow central hall - and rural features. It is one of the county's most ornate buildings from the Federal Style's heyday.
After the Second World War , a new owner decided in the late 1940s to convert the building into a residential building with several residential units. This conversion led to extensive changes to the floor plan inside the building, especially in the rear wing. At this point the garage was also added.
See also
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Ruth Piwonka: National Register of Historic Places nomination, First Columbia County Courthouse ( English ) New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . July 1997. Archived from the original on October 1st, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
