Orange County - American Courthouses

Orange County is named for William of Orange-Nassau, who was King William III of England.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Sullivan County and Ulster County

E – Dutchess County, Putnam County and Westchester County

S – Rockland County and Passaic County, New Jersey

W – Sussex County, New Jersey and Pike County, Pennsylvania

Created: November 1, 1683

County Seat:

Tappan 1683 – 1703

Orangetown 1703 – 1737

Goshen 1737 – present

Newburgh 1789 – 1970

County Courthouse – Goshen

Location: 285 Main Street / Scotchtown Road

Built: 1963 – 1971

Style: Brutalist

Architect: Paul Rudolph

Contractor: Corbeau-Newman Construction Corporation

Description: The building faces south and is a three story concrete and glass style structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds to the north of the center of Goshen and the old courthouse. The south section is comprised of a series of cubes projecting randomly. The main entrance is along the east side with a courtyard enclosed on three sides. The building was renovated and the architect was Gwathmey Siegel. The building was renovated in 2017 and the architect was Clark Paterson.

Note: Other companies involved with the construction were William Bedford and James Brown as technical architects, Lev Zetlin as structural engineer, Cambridge Acoustical Consultants as acoustic engineer and Caretsky and Associates as electrical engineer.

County Courthouse Addition – Goshen

Location: 285 Main Street / Scotchtown Road

Built: 1997 – 1999

Style: Modern

Architect: Unknown

Contractor: Unknown

Description: The building faces west and is a three story red colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in Goshen on the north side of the courthouse.. The west front has a projecting north section with glass panel entrance area, and extended canopy. The first story windows are vertical and narrow on the first story. The building extends eastwards along the north side of the courthouse. The roof line is flat.

County Courthouse New Addition – Goshen

Location: 285 Main Street / Scotchtown Road

Built: 2015 – 2017

Style: Modern

Architect: Perkins Eastman & CPL

Contractor: Holt Construction Company

Description: The building faces west and is a three story gray colored siding, glass and concrete structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in Goshen along the west side of the original courthouse and on the south side of the 1997 addition. The “L” shaped structure envelopes the original courthouse. The west front has a projecting canopy at the entrance which has recessed glass walls. The first and second story windows are horizontal. The third story has large blue tinted windows.

Old County Courthouse – Goshen

Location: 101 Main Street / Court Lane

Built: 1841 – 1842

Style: Greek Revival

Architect: Thornton MacNess Niven of Newburgh

Contractor: Thornton MacNess Niven of Newburgh

Description: The building faces southeast and is a two story yellow colored brick structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Goshen. The southeast front of the rectangular building has a portico with six white colored columns rising to a pediment at the roof. The windows has green colored shutters. The building is a twin with the Newburgh Courthouse. The building is connected to the two story red colored brick Treasurer’s office along the south side.

Old County Courthouse – Newburgh

Location: 123 Grand Street / 3rd Street

Built: 1841 – 1842

Style: Greek Revival

Architect: Thornton MacNess Niven of Newburgh

Contractor: Thornton MacNess Niven of Newburgh

Description: The building faces east and is a two story yellow colored brick structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Newburgh. The east front has a large portico with six white colored columns rising to a pediment at the roof. The building is rectangular with a wide horizontal band below the roof line. On the roof is a high octagonal open cupola. On the west side is a two story yellow colored brick addition The building was closed in 1970. The building is a twin with the Old Goshen Courthouse.

Note: Orange County is one of the original 12 New York counties created in 1683.

History: The county was created in 1683 and Orangetown ( now located in Rockland County ) was selected as the county seat. In 1691 a log structure with whipping posts and stocks, was erected on the green in Tappan which was then in Orange County. In 1737 the county seat was moved to Goshen and a courthouse and jail was built in 1739 but was later destroyed by fire in 1774. In 1798 Rockland County was created and Goshen and Newburgh become the county seats. The first courthouse was a two story structure built in 1772 to 1773. The building was later expanded to three stories. The second courthouse was built in 1841 to 1842 and is still standing.

The original Orange County, NY courthouse was located in Goshen and was built in 1772-1773. It was a two-story structure, later expanded to three stories, and served as the county’s courthouse for over 130 years. The building is recognized as the oldest existing courthouse in New York State and one of the oldest in the United States still used for court purposes,

n 1798, after the American Revolutionary War, the boundaries of Orange County changed. Its southern corner was used to create the new Rockland County, and in exchange, an area to the north of the Moodna Creek was added, which had previously been in Ulster County. This caused a reorganization of the local administration, as the original county seat had been fixed at Orangetown in 1703, but this was now in Rockland County. Duties were subsequently shared between Goshen, which had been the center of government for the northern part of Orange County, and Newburgh, which played a similar role in the area transferred from Ulster County. The county court was established in 1801. It was not until 1970 that Goshen was named as the sole county seat.