Courthouse

Courthouse. . The site of the town of Princeton was chosen as the county seat in 1814 by county commissioners William Prince, Robert Elliott, Abel Westfall, and William Polk. On February 14, 1814, the name Princeton was chosen by the commissioners, casting lots among themselves. William Prince was the fortunate one; hence the name Princeton. The land was surveyed and laid out by surveyors Ebenezer Buckingham and John Breathitt with the plat being recorded on March 28, 1814. The first courthouse, a one story salmon brick common mortar building, was constructed on the courthouse square in 1814. This building was replaced by a larger brick building in 1843, at a cost of $9,000 dollars which was, in turn, replaced by the present courthouse, a Romanesque Revival, in 1884 at a cost of $188,661 dollars. Princeton's early growth was due in part to its location at the halfway point between Evansville and Vincennes , stagecoach line passengers would use this stop to have dinner and some would stay overnight. In 1851 the Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad passed through Princeton. In 1870 the Louisville, Evansville and St. Louis Railroad came to town, further encouraging growth. , Source: Gibson County Warrick County Interim Report, September 1984 and local Princeton historians