Berrien County - American Courthouses

Berrien County is named for John Macpherson Berrien, who was a former United States Senator, United States Attorney General and a Georgian politician.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Irwin County

E – Coffee County, Atkinson County and Lanier County

S – Lanier County and Lowndes County

W – Cook County and Tift County

Created: February 25, 1856

County Seat:

Nashville 1856 – present

County Courthouse – Nashville

Location: 201 North Davis Street / East Hamilton Avenue

Built: 2007 – 2008

Style: Modern Greek Revival

Architect: J Glenn Gregory & Associates

Contractor: Pinnacle Prime Contractors

Description: The building faces west and is a two story red colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Nashville. The west front has a porch with four large columns rising to a pediment at the roof line. The entrance is has a high glass arch and the second story windows are arched. The center section has a north and south wing behind. The roof has blue colored tile and is sloped. In the interior are the courtrooms. The building houses the County Superior Court, County Juvenile Court, County Probate Court and County Magistrate Court of the 2nd Judicial Disirict. the south is the old courthouse on the Town Square.

Note: To the east of the courthouse is the two story red colored brick County Jail designed by Pauly Jail Building & Manufacturing Company and built by J J Carr & Company in 1903.

Old County Courthouse – Nashville

Location: SE – South Davis Street / East Washington

Built: 1898 – 1900

Style: Romanesque Revival and Colonial Revival

Architect: Walter Chamberlin of Knoxville, Tennessee

Contractor: Hugger and Winston of Brewton Alabama

Description: The building faces east and is a two story red colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located in the center of the Town Square on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Nashville. Built from iron support beams, steel ceiling, metal doors and window frames, and cement floors both upstairs and downstairs, the building was virtually fireproof. The building has a square tower on each corner with steep roof. Two smaller towers are at the center sections and have small white colored dome. On the center of the roof is a high square clock tower with octagonal section above and small cupola at the top. In the interior, the courtroom is located on the second story. An annex was added to the west side of the courthouse in 1938, through the Works Projects Administration (WPA), and Fred W Bailey and James S Bailey were the construction supervisors. In 1981, a complete renovation of the inside was made preserving the original interiors and colors as much as possible. The building now houses the Berrien Historical Foundation, Nashville Better Hometown, and Berrien County Chamber of Commerce.

Note: According to local historians, the bricks used on the outside of the courthouse were shipped by rail from Macon to Alapaha, and many or all of the inside bricks were made locally by Reddick McKinnon, from Berrien County clay.

See: The architect, Walter Chamberlin ( Chamberlain ) of Knoxville, Tennessee and Birmingham, Alabama, designed courthouses in Alabama in Dallas County and Lamar County; in Georgia in Franklin County, Jeff Davis County, Macon County and Warren County; in Kentucky in Logan County; in Mississippi in Holmes County, Quitman County and Yalobusha County; in Tennessee in Cumberland County, Gibson County, Morgan County and Rhea County; and in Texas in Deaf Smith County and San Saba County.

See: National Register of Historic Places – Berrien County Courthouse.

See: The 2nd Judicial District includes Atkinson County, Baker County. Brooks County. Calhoun County, Clay County, Clinch County, Colquitt County, Cook County, Decatur County, Dougherty County, Early County, Echols County, Grady County, Irwin County, Lanier County, Lowndes County, Miller County, Mitchell County, Quitman County, Randolph County, Seminole County, Terrell County, Thomas County, Tift County, Turner County and Worth County

History: The county was created in 1856 and Nashville was selected as the county seat. The first court met in a log schoolhouse which served as the first courthouse. The second courthouse was a two story structure built in 1858. The wooden structure was purchased by Dr William Bryan Goodman, who moved it to the northeast side of the Town Square and converted it into the Hansell Hotel. The third courthouse was constructed in 1898 at a cost of $17,000 and is still standing. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 2007 to 2008.