Dillon County is named for J W Dillon, who was a local booster for the county.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Robeson County, North Carolina
E – Columbus County, North Carolina and Horry County
S – Marion County and Florence County
W – Marlboro County
Created: February 5, 1910
County Seat:
Dillon 1910 – present
County Courthouse – Dillon
Location: 301 West Main Street / South 3rd Street
Built: 1911 – 1912
Style: Classical Revival
Architect: William Augustus Edwards of Darlington
Contractor: J A Jones.
Description: The building faces northeast and is a two story dark red colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Dillon. The building has a raised basement as the first story. On the second and third stories is a porch with the entrance recessed with a balcony above and supported by four large Ionic columns with a wide stone and brick header. At the top of the fourth story is a large crest. Vertical stone bands run on either side of the windows. The base of the building is light colored stone. In the interior is a across-axis plan, with central, axial entrances on all four elevations, and the offices in the four quadrants defined by the two axial halls. The floors of the courthouse are terrazzo, while the walls have marble wainscoting. The stairways, at either end of the longitudinal cross-axis, have iron balustrades and marble treads. The large ornate County Circuit Court courtroom is at the center of the third story. The high ceiling extends into the fourth story. The room is enriched by fluted Scamozzi pilasters along all walls, which feature festoons suspended from their volutes. An arcade, behind the pilasters, incorporates the arched windows of the façade and rear elevation. A wooden tabernacle frame, behind the judge’s seat, is in triumphal-arch form. Fluted Scamozzi columns, of dark wood, support an entablature and pediment, and enframe an arch, which bears in its tympanum an allegorical sculpture, consisting of an open book laid over a sword with framing fasces and an olive branch backdrop. There is a small courtroom located in the basement. The building houses the County Circuit Court and County Family Court of the 4th Judicial Circuit. The building was renovated in 1998. The architect was Boykin and Munnerly Architects & Associates and the contractor was Hazelwood Construction Company. On the west side is the Dillon City Hall which houses the County Probate Court.
See: The architect William August Edwards designed other courthouses in Abbeville County, Calhoun County, Darlington County (former courthouse), Jasper County, Kershaw County (former courthouse), Lee County, Sumter County and York County and in Florida in Sumter County.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Dillon County Courthouse
See: The 4th Judicial Circuit includes Chesterfield County, Darlington County and Marlboro County
History: The county was created in 1910 and Dillon was selected as the county seat. The courthouse built in 1911 to 1912 is the first and only courthouse erected in the county. The cost of construction was $100,000.
County Courthouse – Dillon
County Circuit Court coutroom
Photos taken 2008 and 2024
Images 25*