Jefferson County Courthouse

Built in 1836 on the site of the 1803 original, the Greek Revival Jefferson County Courthouse dominates the public square in the heart of Charles Town. It has been the setting of two major American treason trials.

John Brown and his men were brought to the Charles Town jail, now site of the Charles Town Post Office, following the raid at Harpers Ferry in 1859. All were tried in the courthouse; John Brown and six of his men were hanged nearby following their trials. During the war, Union troops occupied and gutted the building.

In 1922, William Blizzard was tried here and acquitted of murder and treason, charges brought for his leadership of 7,000 coal miners in their battle against mine owners and federal troops at Blair Mountain in southern West Virginia.

The Courthouse was renovated in 1872 when the county seat returned after a brief post-Civil War sojourn in Shepherdstown. The first-floor county commission room is the only untouched remnant of the famous John Brown courtroom. Five flights up the 80-foot belltower is the four-faced clock with its bell installed circa 1885.

The courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and designated as National Historic Landmark in 2023.

If you go: Located at 100 East Washington Street, Charles Town, WV; Not open for regular tours.