Kings County Courthouse 1887

     I was up to Georgetown this morning for a meeting - it was a a cold, sunny winter day.  I photographed the old sandstone Courthouse on Kent Street - the main street into town/downtown.

     This building is one of the Island’s best examples of masonry Romanesque Revival.  The Courthouse was designed by renowned Island architect William Critchlow Harris, and is one of the finest buildings in the Province.  It is constructed mainly of Island sandstone which gives its reddish colour.  The contrasting stone (grey Wallace sandstone), quarried and brought over from Nova Scotia, adds to the architectural interest.  The builder was Lemuel A. Wilmot at a cost of $8,000.  Originally the building was facing the opposite direction, but the builder got the plans reversed.  (see the original drawings below).

The cornerstone was placed on July 20, 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. 

     Above information cf. Georgetown Walking Tour brochure – see this blog, http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.ca/2011/11/georgetown-walking-tour.html

    The following image of the original Harris drawings come from Historic Places website.

 http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7442