In 1808, the provincial government authorized the erection of a court house and gaol at Elizabethtown (Brockville) to serve the District of Johnstown created ten years earlier. By 1811, a brick structure had been built here on land donated by William Buell, the founder of Brockville. It was replaced in 1824 by a larger building which remained the judicial and administrative centre of the region until the present court house was completed in 1843. Prominently situated at the head of a public green, this imposing neoclassical structure was designed by the noted Toronto architect John George Howard and constructed by Benjamin Chaffey, a local contractor. Subsequently enlarged and renovated, it retains the arrangement of prison and court facilities so effectively integrated in the original plan.

Location

In Court House Square, Church Street, Brockville

Themes

• Buildings and structures
• Politics and law