Erie, Pennsylvania
Court House
Fire
May 23, 1823
The first court house [was completed] in
1808. The latter was a small brick building that
stood in the West Park, at Erie, a little north
of the soldiers’ and sailors’ monument. The
county was too poor to afford the total expense,
and the State generously granted $2,000 toward
the erection of the building. On Sunday morning,
March 23, 1823, between the hours of 12 and 3
o’clock, this court house was destroyed by fire,
with all the books, papers and records,
inflicting a loss to the county which cannot be
measured in dollars and cents, and the effects
of which were felt for fully a generation after
the event. The fire was caused by taking ashes
out of a stove on Saturday, throwing them into a
nail keg and neglecting to move them out of
doors. When the flames were discovered, they had
advanced too far to permit the saving of any of
the contents of the building. The ensuing May
term of court was held in the Erie Academy, and
that edifice was rented for county purposes and
occupied by the various county officials for two
years.
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY History of Erie
County, containing a history of the county; its
townships, towns, villages, schools, churches,
industries, etc..., Chicago, Warner, Beers &
Co., 1884
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