First Courthouse of Greene County

Side A: In the late 1790s General Benjamin Whiteman built near this site one of the first log cabins in Alpha, the first settlement in what would become Beavercreek Township of Greene County. The cabin, later owned by Whiteman’s father-in-law, Owen Davis, and leased for use as a tavern to Peter Borders, became the first courthouse of Greene County. Twenty-five feet square, it had one room below and a chamber above, serving as the family sleeping quarters. A small ladder through a hole in the ceiling reached the upper level. The building was constructed of burr oak logs with a roof made of clapboards held in place by long poles laid across them. Considered to be one of the finest houses in that part of the county, the cabin had one door, one window, and a huge fireplace with an outside chimney built of sticks, stones, and clay. (Continued on other side) Side B: (Continued from other side) The first proceedings of the associate judges of the court of common pleas were held in the log cabin on Tuesday, May 10, 1803. General Benjamin Whiteman, who built the cabin, was one of the first three associate judges. The court’s business consisted of organizing Greene County, including laying out township lines and creating a new township named Beaver Creek, later changed to Beavercreek. Other court actions included deciding on the number of elected justices of the peace for each township and making arrangements for the election of a county sheriff. The final court proceedings in the log cabin occurred in June 1804, after which Xenia became the county seat. Greene County’s first courthouse was moved twice. It last served as a boarding house for workers of the nearby Harbine Mill. The log cabin courthouse was torn down in the mid 1850s.