Old Courthouses

Old Courthouses is a Pennsylvania historical marker in Dauphin County, dedicated 1953.

Market St. between 2nd & 3rd Sts., Harrisburg (Missing)

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Two Dauphin County Courthouses occupied this site. The first, built 1792-99, served as the State House for the Pennsylvania Legislature from 1812 to 1821. It was removed in 1860. The second stood here from 1860 to 1948.

This sign is no longer standing.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1792 · A Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1794 · A new and general map of the middle dominions belonging to the United States of America… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1795 · Pennsylvania. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1795 · State of Pennsylvania. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1796 · Pennsylvania. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

A Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania, 1792, covering the location of Old Courthouses, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — A Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania, 1792, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker data: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission via data.pa.gov

More markers nearby

T. Morris Chestersame spot
Market Squareunder 1 mi
Abraham Lincolnunder 1 mi
Eagle Hotelunder 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

Colonial Theatre170 ft
Kunkel Building290 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.