Screven County - American Courthouses

Screven County is named for James Screven, who was a brigadier general in the American Revolutionary War.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Burke County and Allendale County, South Carolina

E – Allendale County, South Carolina and Hampton County, South Carolina

S – Effingham County and Bulloch County

W – Jenkins County

Created: December 14, 1793

County Seat:

Rocky Ford 1793 – 1797

Jacksonboro 1797 – 1847

Sylvania 1847 – present

County Courthouse – Sylvania

Location: 216 Mims Road / W T Sharpe Drive

Built: 1964 – 1965

Style: Modern

Architect: Sewell & Associates of Savannah

Contractor: McKnight Construction of Augusta

Description: The building faces southwest and is a one story buff colored brick and concrete structure. The building is surrounded by landscaped grounds and is located in the west side of the center of Sylvania.. The center entrance is recessed with a yellow colored overhang. The northwest wing is higher and solid brick. The building has a green colored roof. In the interior there is a wide hallway running northwest to southeast. The large County Superior Court courtroom is located on the northwest side of the building and has a high ceiling. The building houses the County Superior Court, County State Court, County Juvenile Court, County Probate Court and County Magistrate Court of the 1st Judicial District.

Note: In the center of Sylvania on the south side of the Courthouse Square is the Old Clerk’s Office (Courthouse Annex) built in 1897. To the northeast is the old two story white colored brick jail located at 140 W T Sharp Drive / Filbert Street and to the south is the old calaboose located at 113 Ennis Street.

See: The 1st Judicial District includes Appling County, Bacon County, Brantley County, Bulloch County, Bryan County, Camden County, Charlton County, Chatham County, Coffee County, Effingham County, Evans County, Glynn County, Jeff Davis County, Jenkins County, Liberty County, Long County, McIntosh County, Pierce County, Tattnall County, Ware County and Wayne County.

History: The county was created in 1793 and Rocly Ford was selected as the county seat. The first court met at the home of Benjamin Warren in Rocky Ford. In 1797, Jacksonboro was designated as the county seat and the first courthouse was built. The second courthouse was built in 1832. The county seat was moved to Sylvania in 1847 and the third courthouse was built, but was burned by Union forces in 1864. The fourth courthouse was a wooden structure built in 1969. The courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1896. The fifth courthouse was a two story brick structure designed by Lewis Goodrich and constructed by Algernon Blair of Montgomery, Alabama in 1897 at a cost of $15,000. The sixth and present courthouse was constructed in 1964 to 1965 and the previous courthouse was torn down.