South Carolina Department of Archives and History
National Register Properties in South Carolina

Allendale County Courthouse, Allendale County (292 Barnwell Hwy., Allendale)
S1081770301301 S1081770301302 S1081770301303 S1081770301304 S1081770301305
Facade Right Oblique Left Oblique Left Elevation Left Elevation
Rear Addition
S1081770301306 S1081770301307 S1081770301308 S1081770301309 S1081770301310
Rear Elevation Right Elevation
Rear Addition
Right Rear Oblique Interior
Octagonal Lobby
Interior
Courtroom
S1081770301311 S1081770301312 S1081770301313    
Facade
after fire-1998
Right Elevation
after fire-1998
Rear Elevation
after fire-1998

The Allendale County Courthouse, constructed in 1921-1922, is significant as the county's first and only courthouse. Allendale County, the last county established in South Carolina, emerged in 1919 from parts of Barnwell and Hampton counties, jurisdictions thought at the time to be too large to govern effectively. Plans for a courthouse actually began with the legislative act establishing Allendale County; therefore, this courthouse is not merely the only extant building in the county tied closely to the county's founding but clearly the most significant public building in the county. It is also important as an example of the public design work in South Carolina of G. Lloyd Preacher, noted Augusta and Atlanta architect and native son of Allendale County. The A.J. Krebs and Company, general contractors of Atlanta, was engaged to carry out the building's construction. The courthouse is a two-story yellow brick and limestone-accented building whose central block with pedestaled pediment is dominated by a monumental, unengaged, flat-roofed Neoclassical Revival portico. The portico features four massive limestone columns and responding pilasters of the Tuscan order, a classical entablature, and a brick and limestone parapet. Immediately to the rear [northeast] and connected to the historic courthouse by a narrow two-story hyphen is a large office and courtroom building that was completed and occupied in 2004. The new building's construction was part of a larger project that included the overall reconstruction of the historic courthouse's interior and rehabilitation of its exterior, following a devastating arson fire that destroyed much the building's interior on the morning of May 18, 1998. The interior's restoration, in plan and detail, is based upon the 1921 architectural drawings by G. Lloyd Preacher and Company. Listed in the National Register August 1, 2007.

View the complete text of the nomination form for this National Register property.

Most National Register properties are privately owned and are not open to the public. The privacy of owners should be respected. Not all properties retain the same integrity as when originally documented and listed in the National Register due to changes and modifications over time.

Images and texts on these pages are intended for research or educational use. Please read our statement on use and reproduction for further information on how to obtain a photocopy or how to cite an item.

 

Images provided by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.