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The
first courthouse is said to have been a wooden structure
having a kind of gallery (on the outside) reached by
wooden steps. It held two jury boxes. There were two
fireplaces located at each end of the structure.
It
was in the first structure that the Judges repudiated
the Stamp Act in 1765 and from which seven Tories were
condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered in 1781.
By 1784, this first courthouse was found to have deteriorated
to such an extent that the erection of a new building
was authorized.
The
new building, designed by a local architect named Henry
McCleery, was modeled after the old court of Assises
in Dublin, Ireland. The courthouse ran from north to
south and remained in place for 75 years. Its walls
and hallways vibrated with the eloquence of Roger Brooke
Taney, Thomas Johnson, Francis Scott Key and Richard
Potts among others.
In
1832, an iron fence was place around the courthouse
but in 1890 the fence was removed because of the public
demand.
Ten
years later on March 31, 1842, an event occurred which
almost caused the loss of the courthouse itself.
Twelve
to fifteen buildings in or near Court Square caught
on fire all at the same time. Because of the strong
March winds, flames from nearby houses on Council Street
sent hot embers scattering in the wind which ended up
setting the cupola on fire. Fortunately, the nearby
Independence Fire Company was able to put out the fire.
The building was saved and the cupola replaced.
However,
fate had another disastrous card to play. On May 8,
1861, another fire began in the cupola only this time
the fire had been deliberately set. Not only had the
fire been deliberately set but someone has deliberately
cut off the water supply so that the firemen could do
nothing but watch as the building became enveloped in
flames.
In
the Examiner of May 15th, the newspaper reported: "In
the excited state of the public mind, growing out of
secession disturbances, unusual apprehension was felt.
. . It was evidently the work of incendiarism and it
would require proof positive to the contrary to divest
the public mind of the impression that the act of vandalism
was inspired by secession revenge."
To
this day no positive proof has been discovered that
the fire was deliberately, but the fact that the water
supply was cut off remained suspiciously apparent to
a great Fredericktonians of that period.
In
the way, it may have been a blessing that the building
burned when it did because the volume of records had
increased enormously among with the case load of trials.
Because the building was so badly damaged, a new but
larger one was begun almost immediately in 1861; finished
a year later. County officials did not move into it,
however, until 1864. It was not until 1954 that extensive
remodeling was done in order to make it into a more
up-to-date building.
With
the advent of a new courthouse coming into the community
(the one on Patrick Street), the old building sat empty
from August 9, 1982 until October 24, 1983, when the
Mayor and Board of Aldermen awarded a contract for the
purchase of the present building from the county for
$500,000 to be used as City Hall.
On
February 7, 1985, another contract was awarded for the
reconstruction of the building. Michael Proffitt, of
Landon Proffitt Architects, was the architect who transformed
the old building into the splendid Victorian City Hall
that you see today.
This
restoration and remodeling was due mainly to the foresight
of Mayor Ronald Young, who has helped to preserve the
past of Frederick's history instead of destroying it.
He personally guided all aspects of this restoration
including the careful restoration of the attic which
is to become the City Hall Museum.
The
present City Hall is a perfect example of what thoughtful
and careful restoration can do for an old building by
making it into a functional building once more.
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Richard Lebherz
FREDERICK
CITY HALL
101 N. Court Street
Frederick, MD 21701
Open Monday thru Friday
8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
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