Madison County | US Courthouses

Madison County is named for James Madison, who was the President of the United States from 1809 to 1817.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Crockett County, Gibson County and Carroll County

E – Henderson County and Chester County

S – Chester County and Hardeman County

W – Haywood County and Crockett County

Created: November 7, 1821

County Seat:

Jackson 1821 – present

County Courthouse – Jackson

Location: 100 East Main Street / South Highland Avenue

Built: 1936 – 1937

Style: Classical Revival

Architect: Joseph Holman and Thomas Marr of Nashville

Contractor: Foster and Creighton of Nashville

Description: The building faces north and is a three story cream colored limestone and concrete structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Jackson. The building has a stone framed entrance in the center. Vertical stone pillars divide the windows on the second and third stories. The roof line is flat. In the interior, there is an entrance lobby on the north side and the first story is a cruciform plan with a long corridor with stairwell on either end. The former Quarterly County Court courtroom, now a conference room, is located on the first story. On the second story, the Chancery Court courtroom is located on the northwest side and the Circuit Court courtroom is located on the southeast side. The Circuit Court courtroom has tan colored terrazzo tiles, birchwood moldings, plaster walls and the ceiling has cream colored plaster with white colored guiloche molding. The judge’s bench is on the north side. On the third story is a courtroom that was formerly the Supreme Court courtroom. The jail was formerly housed on the fourth story. The building houses the County Chancery Court of the 26th Judicial District. The building was a Work Projects Administration project.

See: The architect, Joseph Holman and Thomas Marr of Nashville, designed courthouses in Bedford County, Franklin County, Hardin County, Lauderdale County, McNairy County, Obion County, Pickett County, Sumner County and Weakley County. They also designed the Tennessee Supreme Court in Nashville.

See: National Register of Historic Places – Madison County Courthouse

County Criminal Justice Complex – Jackson

Location: 515 South Liberty Street / Tarryard Street

Built: 1996 – 1998

Style: Modern

Architect: TLM Associates, Inc.

Contractor: Inman Construction Corporation

Description: The building faces east and is a three story red colored brick, stone, concrete and glass structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Jackson to the south of the courthouse. The center section of the building is hexagonal with four one story wings extending at each corner. The east front has a large black polished stone center section with glass entrance on the first story and large window sections on the second and third stories. And then rises to a peak. There are low north and south wings which extend from the main building. The roof line is flat. The building houses the County Circuit Court and County General Sessions Court – Division I of the 26th Judicial District.

County Juvenile Court Building – Jackson

Location: 110 Irby Street / Lexington Avenue

Built: 1912 – 1913

Style: Classical Revival

Architect: Unknown

Contractor: Unknown

Description: The building faces east and is a two story red colored brick and concrete structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on spacious landscaped grounds to the east of the center of Jackson and east of the courthouse. The east front has a central portico with four columns rising to a pediment at the roof line. The north and south corner sections project slightly. A wide cornice runs below the fat roof line. The building houses the County General Sessions Court – Division II Probate and County Juvenile Court of the 26th Judicial District. The building is named as the Walter Baker Harris Juvenile Court Building. The building was formerly Barton Hall constructed by the West Tennessee University after the previous building was destroyed by fire in 1912. In 1957 the building was transferred to Union University and then in 1982 transferred to the County.

See: The 26th Judicial District includes Chester County and Henderson County.

History: The county was created in 1821 and Jackson was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a log structure built in 1822 on the northeast side of the Public Square. The second courthouse was a brick structure built in 1825. The third courthouse was constructed by Thomas Brown and Robert Brown in 1845 and was remodeled in 1907. The architect was Bartlett, Buddemeyer & Chamberlain. The building was demolished in 1935 to make room for the fourth and present courthouse constructed in 1936 to 1937 at a cost $300,000. The Criminal Justice Complex was constructed in 1996 to 1998.

See: Located in the county is the Tennessee Supreme Court – Jackson.