Franklin County | US Courthouses

Franklin County is named for Benjamin Franklin, who was one of the founding fathers of the United States.

Surrounding County and Canada Courthouses:

N – Quebec, Canada

E – Orleans County

S – Lamoille County and Chittenden County

W – Grand Isle County

Created: November 5, 1792

County Seat:

Saint Albans 1789 – present

Old County Courthouse – Saint Albans

Location: 17 Church Street / Bank Street

Built: 1873 – 1874

Style: Italianate / Classical

Architect: Edgar C Ryer of Burlington

Contractor: Franklin County Building Commission

Description: The building faces west and is a two story red colored brick and white colored wood frame structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Saint Albans. The west front has square red colored brick tower with white colored square cupolas on each corner. The center section projects slightly and has a entrance on the first story. The second story has arched windows. The north side has a one story porch. The roof line is flat. In the interior, the large County Superior Court courtroom is located on the second story. The building is named as the Percival Shangraw Courthouse.

See: The architect, Edgar C Ryer also designed the old courthouse in Chittenden County, which has now been demolished.

Note: On the east side of the courthouse along Lincoln Street is the old red colored brick jail.

County Courthouse – Saint Albans

Location: 36 Lake Street / Catherine Street

Built: 1988 – 1990

Style: Modern

Architect: Alexander, Truex and DeGroot Inc. of Burlington

Contractor: Spates Construction of Newport

Description: The building faces north and is a one story red colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located in the center of Saint Albans. The north front has a central arched entrance. There are large square sections with green colored roofs above the entrance and on the east and west sides. The east and west sections of the building project slightly from the main building. The base of the building is concrete. The roof line is flat. The building houses the Couty Superior Court.

Note: During construction, Pinkham Engineering Associates of Burlington were the civil engineers. Doherty Consulting of South Burlington provided structural engineering and N F Lawrence and Associates Inc. of Northborough, Massachusetts were the mechanical and electrical engineers.

Old District Courthouse – Saint Albans

Location: 50 Kingman Street / Federal Street

Built: 1895 – 1896

Style: Romanesque Revival

Architect: Unknown

Contractor: Unknown

Description: The building faces south and is is a two story gray colored ashlar coursed marble structure. The building is located on the west side of the center of Saint Albans. The south front has a central arched entrance with arched windows on either side of the first story. Each corner has a conically capped turret. The entrances have stilted arches on clustered colonnettes with decorative capitals. These entries are flanked by semicircular arched windows. On the roof are dormers. The building used to house the District Court.

History: The county was created in 1792 and Saint Albans was designated as the county seat. The first courthouse was built in 1800 to 1803. The second courthouse was built in 1849 to 1850 and burned in the 1860’s. The third courthouse was constructed in 1873 to 1874 at a cost of 75,000, which was over the original budgeted amount of $35,000. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 1988 to 1990.