Cheshire County is named for the County of Cheshire in England, United Kingdom.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Sullivan County
S – Worcester County, Massachusetts and Franklin County, Massachusetts
W – Windham County, Vermont
Created: March 19, 1771 
County Seat:
Keane 1771 – present
Old County Courthouse – Keane
Location: 12 Court Street / Winter Street
Built: 1858 – 1859
Style: Georgian
Architect: Gridley James Fox Bryant of Boston, Massachusetts
Contractor: Joel Bullard
Description: The building faces east and is a two story red colored brick rectangular structure. Ther building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Keane. The building has a small brick portico on the first story with large arched window above on the second story. At the roof line is a pink colored dormer with square pink cupola rising to a round top section with dome. The building has arched windows and has larger windows on the second story. Interior features such as iron window shutters, woodwork, and staircases have been retained. An addition was built in 1911. On the west side is a modern three story Annex constructed in 1979. The architect was Flick & Lewis and the contractor was Baybutt Construction.
Note: The courthouse is the oldest courthouse in New Hampshire still used as a courthouse.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Cheshire County Courthouse
County Courthouse – Keane
Location: 33 Winter Street / Court Street
Built: 2010 – 2013
Style: Modern
Architect: Northeast Colaborative Architects
Contractor: The MacMillin Company of DEW Construction Company
Description: The building faces south and is a three story red colored brick, brown colored stone, concrete and glass structure. The building is located on the west side of the old courthouse in the center of Keane. The southeast corner has an extended one story canopy supported by two brick pillars. Above are horizontal windows on the second and third stories. On the first story is brown colored stone with covered parking. The roof line is flat. The Monadnock Economic Development Corporation financed construction and leased the building to the county.
History: The county was created in 1771 and Keane was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a frame structure erected in Keane and in 1808 the building was moved to Court Street and Winter Street. The second courthouse was a brick structure built in 1824 at the same site. The third courthouse was constructed in 1858 to 1859 on the site of the former Records Building built in 1840. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 2010 to 2013 at a cost of $10,600,000. There is a Distruct Courthouse at Jaffrey.
County Courthouse – Keene
New County Courthouse – Keene
Photos taken 2006 and 2014