Cape Fear Pride Burgaw: Pender County Courthouse

This week, our Cape Fear Pride series wraps up the month in Burgaw. Burgaw Middle School student Savanah Hauge gives us a closer look at the Pender County Courthouse in the heart of this historic town.

The County Commissioners accepted fifty acres of land for a town site in March 1878. Pender County’s first courthouse, located in Burgaw in 1883, was an old two-story wooden building, which had served as a store and a school building. On July 4th, 1885 the corner stone of the courthouse was laid and the citizens erected a new courthouse. This building was dismantled and on November 7, 1937 with an elaborate celebration and many attending.

The courthouse square is beautifully landscaped and neatly maintained. The courthouse is a three-story brick veneered Georgian Revival building. This style was inspired by an interest in American Colonial architecture. The H-shaped structure is composed of a hipped roofed main block with projecting gable-roofed wings. You can enter the building from four directions using the diagonal walkways and is symmetrical on the site.

Inside the ground floor offices are divided by wide cross-halls, which meet in an octagonal circulation area. The courtroom, located on the second floor is a large rectangular chamber with a gently arched ceiling and tall arched windows. A rear balcony has been enclosed.

In Burgaw, the estate-like site, as much as the building itself, make the courthouse a memorable landmark.