Bell County is named for Joshua Fry Bell, who was a Kentucky legislator from 1862 to 1867.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Knox County and Clay County
E – Leslie County, Harlan County and Lee County, Virginia
S – Lee County, Virginia and Claiborne County, Tennessee
W – Whitley County and Knox County
Created: February 28, 1867
County Seat:
Old Pineville 1867 – 1883
Pineville 1883 – present
County Courthouse – Pineville
Location: 101 Courthouse Square / Pine Street
Built: 1919 – 1920
Style: Beaux Arts
Architect: John W. Gaddis of Indiana
Contractor: Moraw Building Company of Chicago, Illinois.
Description: The building faces north and is a three story buff brick and concrete Beaux Arts style structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on landscaped grounds of the Courthouse Square in the center of Pineville. The building has a raised basement. The north front of the building has a large portico supported by four large Ionic limestone columns rising to the pediment at the roof. In the center of the pediment is a clock. A full entablature crowns the brick walls, which are penetrated by indented vertical strips of unornamented windows. A white colored horizontal band runs below the projecting cornice near the flat roof line. There is a rusticated stone basement. In the interior is an ornamental mosaic tile floor containing the county’s name within a wreath. The courtroom is located on the second story. In 1944 a fire gutted the building. The building was extensively rehabilitated in 1978.
See: National Registeer of Historic Places – Pineville Courthouse Square Historic District
County Judicial Center – Pineville
Location: 101 Park Avenue / Pine Street
Built: 2000 – 2003
Style: Modern
Architect: Vaughan & Melton of Middleboro
Contractor: W B Browning Construction Company of Pineville
Description: The building faces southeast and is a two story dark brown colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Pineville to the south of the courthouse. The southeast front has a projecting center section with recessed entrance on the first story and recessed section on the second story. And hipped roof above. The building is tiered extending northwards. The roof is hipped. The building is named as the Farmer Helton Judicial Center. The building houses the County Circuit Court and County District Court of the 44th Judicial Circuit.
History: The county was created in 1867 as Josh Bell County and then named Bell County in 1873. There was no county seat until 1883 when Pineville was established. The first court met in 1867. The jail was built by Lewis Faulkner in 1868 at a cost of $785. The first courthouse was built on land donated by J J Gibson, Jr. in 1869 on a site named as “Old Pineville”. The second courthouse was built in 1870 to 1871. The third courthouse was a two story brick structure designed by H P McDonald Brothers of Louisville in 1888 to 1894 and was destroyed by fire in 1914. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 1919 to 1920. The County Judicial Center was constructed in 2002 to 2003 at a cost of $5,870,000.
County Courthouse – Pineville
County Judicial Center – Pineville
Photos taken 2007 and 2014
Images 13