The Madison County Courthouse was designed by Col. Thomas Lewinski and built between 1848 and 1852 at a cost of $40,000. It is an excellent example of an antebellum public building in Kentucky.
The courthouse square was first surrounded by a wooden fence; by 1855 a wrought iron fence had replaced it at a cost of $3,000.
Federal medical director Dr. Bernard J. D. Irwin took over the courthouse, along with the Madison Female Institute, as a hospital in late August 1862. On August 30, the wounded began filling the courthouse early on that relentlessly hot day, and the medical staff were quickly overwhelmed.
Panicked Union soldiers ran past the courthouse late in the day, only to be marched back to it after being captured north of Richmond. The courthouse became a compound where many of the Union prisoners were held awaiting release. Townspeople brought food and water to the prisoners, and after a few weeks the courthouse returned to its original purpose.
The building has had several renovations and additions over the years, the last major one in 1965. The marble and iron staircase in the front foyer was added in the 1890s.
The iron fence that held the Union prisoners was moved to the front of the Richmond Cemetery in 1906. An iron bandstand that stood at the corner of West Main and North Second streets was lost to one of the metal drives of World War I or II. The post-war county jail behind the courthouse was torn down in the early 1990s, when a newer jail opened on West Irvine Street.
The courthouse still serves Madison County today, housing county offices including the Circuit, County and Fiscal Courts. The interior has been extensively renovated, but apart from being painted white, the exterior is virtually unchanged since 1862.
Plan your visit: Richmond tourism and Berea tourism.