Spotlight: Monmouth County Courthouse

By Mike Mathis

Judiciary Times Editor

Before there officially was a United States, there were courts in Monmouth County.

The earliest known courthouse in the county dates back to 1714 when Monmouth County – established on March 7, 1683 – formed its first government and erected a courthouse and jail at Main and Court streets in Freehold. That spot in the county seat, where the county’s Hall of Records stands, served as the location for a county courthouse until 1954.

Believed to be a small frame structure, the first courthouse, which also housed a jail, was replaced in 1719 after two prisoners escaped. The building was used for eight years until it was destroyed by fire.

Its replacement, completed in 1731, was the site of the reading of the Declaration of Independence several days after its adoption in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. During the American Revolution, the courthouse was used to care for British and American soldiers wounded in the Battle of Monmouth, a skirmish that tipped the war in favor of the Continental Army.

A fourth courthouse on that same site was completed in 1809, but that sustained two fires, one started by a prisoner in 1855, and another in 1873. Using some of the stonework from that building, workers rushed to build a new courthouse in just four months. In 1884, a large addition was added to the rear of the courthouse along Court Street.

Yet another fire, this one in 1930, caused extensive damage to a stairway and belfry. The decision, this time, was to locate its replacement two blocks north, on Court Street next to Monument Park on farmland donated to the county by the Schank family. Completed in 1954, the Monmouth County Courthouse, expanded over the years, now consists of four floors and three wings.

The original 1954 portion of the courthouse is now called the south wing. The west wing was built in 1968 and the east wing was built in 1980.

The Hall of Records, which still stands at the location of the earliest courthouses, contains the administrative offices of the freeholders and county surrogate. It also still houses a courtroom and chambers, adhering to a provision in the original 1714 deed with landowner John Reid. Reid sold the property to the county for a mere 30 shillings on the condition that it never stop being used as a courthouse, according to the Monmouth County website.

The monument in front of the courthouse commemorates the Battle of Monmouth, which occurred on June 28, 1778 near present day Freehold. More than than 90 feet high, the monument is one of the tallest in New Jersey. It was dedicated on Nov. 13, 1884 and rededicated on Nov. 17, 1984.

Five bronze relief tablets on the base of the monument depict Revolutionary War scenes and figures, including George Washington, Lt. Col. Nathaniel Ramsey and Molly Pitcher.