Mercer County - American Courthouses

Mercer County is named for High Mercer, who was a general in the Continental Army and who died at the Battle of Princeton in 1777.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Hunterdon County and Somerset County

E – Middlesex County and Monmouth County

S – Burlington County

W – Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Created: February 22, 1838

County Seat:

Trenton 1838 – present

County Criminal Courthouse – Trenton

Location: 400 South Warren Street / Market Street

Built: 2010 – 2012

Style: Modern

Architect: Vitetta Group of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Contractor: Ernest Bock & Sons, Inc.

Description: The building faces west and is four story concrete, stone and glass structure. The west front has a central recessed entrance on the first story with a steel canopy with two steel columns. The recessed wall is glass panels. Black colored stone facing frames the entrance and recessed second story balconies. The third story has wide semi-circular windows. And the fourth story has black colored stone facing. The roof line is flat with a projecting steel overhang. In the interior are nine County Superior Court courtrooms. The building houses the Mercer County Superior Court – Criminal Division. The construction manager was Joseph Jingoli & Son Inc. of Lawrenceville.

County Civil Courthouse – Trenton

Location: 175 South Broad Street / Livingstone Street

Built: 1993 – 1995

Style: Modern

Architect: Clarke Caton Hintz and Faridy Thorne Frayiak

Contractor: Unknown

Description: The building faces east and is a four story concrete structure. The building replicates a 19th Century Civil building. The building is “L” shaped and the southeast corner is rounded with a small portico on the first story with four columns rising to a pediment. The windows have decorative grill work. The roof line is flat. In the interior, the entrance lobby is two stories in height. There are 14 County Superior Court courtrooms.

Old County Courthouse – Trenton

Location: 209 South Broad Street / Market Street

Built: 1901 – 1902

Style: Beaux Arts

Architect: William Stack

Contractor: Lewis Lawton.

Description: The building faces east and is a three story gray colored stone and concrete structure. The south front has a projecting center section with three arches on the first story and six columns rising from the second story to a pediment at the roof line. On the east side is the six story County Courthouse Annex constructed in 1938 to 1939. The building is now the Prosecutors Building and was renovated in 2017. The construction manager was Joseph Jingoli & Son Inc. of Lawrenceville and the contractor is Dandrea Construction Company Inc.

History: The county was created in 1838 and Trenton was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was built at the corner of Broad Street and Market Street in 1839 and demolished in 1901 to make way for the second courthouse constructed in 1901 to 1902. The County Civil Courthouse was constructed in 1993 to 1995. The County Criminal Courthouse was constructed in 2010 to 2012 at a cost of $53,000,000.

See: Located in the county is the New Jersey Supreme Court.