A brief history of the courthouse buildings for Schuylkill County as provided by Joseph M. Hanney who was the vice president of the Schuylkill County Historical Society:
Pottsville had two Court Houses at one time in 1891, finally settling an old discussion. To the rear, presently the main parking lot, is the County’s third Court House (or only the second built for the sole purpose of County administration, as some historians would write). The first (1811) Court House was in a private home and tavern at McKeansburg, serving that purpose until a Court House was built in 1816 on the public square in Orwigsburg. The older building pictured was constructed in the early 1850s when Pottsville became the County seat. It was in this building that the trials and convictions of the Molly Maguires occurred in the late 1870s.
The photo, which is from the Schuylkill County Historical Society, was published in the “Looking Back” feature of the Pottsville Republican, July 16, 1977.
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From Newspapers.com.
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