Perry County's First Seat of Government

Perry County's First Seat of Government. Perry County Bicentennial. , On March 22, 1820, Perry County was formed out of part of Cumberland County, and Landisburg was named the temporary county seat by an impartial panel of three people selected by Governor William Findlay., Reflecting the pioneer beginnings of the new county, the first Court House was a large, unfinished log building situated on the northwest corner of Carlisle and Water streets. The Court room occupied the whole of the first floor, and board partitioned the second floor into the Commissioners' Office and Jury Room. The sets in the Courtroom were ordinary board benches. The Judges' bench was a raised platform in the north end of the room, made of rough boards and furnished in front with a board or shelf for a writing desk. The constables' table was a common pine dinner table, while the clerks had ordinary wooden desks., Other county offices were in the dwellings of the officers. The first sheriff, David Stambaugh, had his office in the house on the northeast corner of the Centre Square. Prothonotary, Wm. B. Mitchell resided in the brick house on the southwest corner of Main and Carlisle streets and used the front room on Carlisle Street as his office. This building later became General Henry Fetter's Store. Jacob Fritz, Esq., Registrar and Recorder, lived in the house on Water Street now known as the Dunbar-Creigh House. The Registrar's office was in the basement of the house., The fight for the county seat was the greatest political battle in county history. Three separate commissions of citizens were unable to agree on a suitable location with Landisburg and Barnett (Bloomfield) receiving the most consideration. In March 1823, a commission of four individuals from outside of the county was named by Governor Joseph Heister and approved by the General Assembly to select the seat. In June 1823, Bloomfield was selected as the permanent county seat on five acres of land donated by George Barnett., After the county government was removed to Bloomfield in 1827, Robert Gibson, Esq. acquired the old Court House property. He used the court room as a cabinetmaker's shop until 1840, when he took the old building down and built the present brick dwelling house. Buildings housing other old county offices can still be seen in 2018., [Captions:] , Prothonotary's Office, Main and Carlisle streets. Photo ca. 1905., Site of the old Court House, Carlisle and Water streets. Photo ca. 1900.