The
Pitt County Courthouse is located on the corner of South Evans and West Third
streets in Greenville, NC. Milburn
& Heister built the courthouse in 1911 after the previous courthouse was
destroyed by one of the worst fires in Greenville history. The building is a three-story hip
roof brick building, resembling the Neo-Classical Revival style of
architecture. The building was added to
the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The Pitt County Courthouse Today
The Pitt
County Courthouse has just recently undergone renovations overseen by Project
Supervisor Brent Mooring. Included were
new lamps, a county seal, landscape, stairs, walkways, fresh paint, and most
significantly, the renovation of the annex.
The new annex will be home to four departments that are currently
located in different buildings. The
annex will hold prisoners awaiting court dates, house the sheriff, and also the
Clerk of Courts. The 32,000-square-foot
project cost $7 million to renovate, but the results are worth the cost.
Interesting Tidbits About the Pitt County Courthouse
One of
Greenville’s only two Confederate Monuments was erected in 1915 in front of the
courthouse.
It has
been said that George Washington ate and slept in Greenville on April 19, 1791.
To mark this visit, a bronze tablet was placed on the green of the Pitt County
Courthouse on November 17, 1925.
The
current Pitt County Courthouse is the fifth courthouse for Pitt County. From 1761 to 1774, Pitt County's first
courthouse was Col. John Hardee's house. The site is located on Highway 33 East, in adjacent to the
entrance of the Brook Valley subdivision. The second courthouse, built by 1775,
was on the corner of Evans and Third streets. The third was completed in 1834
on Evans Street. A man named Croom who was trying to destroy a will inside it
burned it in 1858. The fourth courthouse took a long time to complete. It was
not finished until 1877. It was destroyed by fire on February 24, 1910.
The War
Memorial Honoring Vietnam War KIAs is
located outside the County Courthouse in Greenville.
One year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence in
Philadelphia these brave patriots assembled in Pitt County Courthouse and
in peril of their lives pledged allegiance to the Pitt Association in
protest against Bristish tyranny. Their early resolute action place Pitt
County in the forefront of the colonial movements for freedom which led North Carolina to become the first colony to vote explicit sanction to
American independence.
This plaque is hanging in the Pitt County Courthouse.
In 1787 Martinsborough was changed to Greenville. Greenville is the
county seat.
1760 Pitt County formed
