The Union County Courthouse, in New Albany, was built in 1909. The first courthouse in New Albany was built in 1870, when the town was re-founded during Reconstruction. In 1872 it was replaced by a new brick courthouse, which was destroyed by fire in 1881. A third courthouse was built in 1882, but it was soon determined that the building was too small. The fourth and current courthouse was begun in 1908 and finished in 1909.
The Union County Courthouse is one of the best examples of the Neo-Classical style in the Mississippi Hill Country. The Neo-Classical style was very popular between 1903 and 1920. The style replaced the Victorian Romanesque style popular with civic and public buildings, and was in turn replaced by the Art Deco style in the 1920s.
The Courthouse is a three-story building of golden-tan brick and trimmed in stone. It consists of a main central block and two two-story wings. A broad tetrastyle portico, supported by Ionic columns dominates the main facade. A brilliant baroque-style metal dome, supported by four clusters of columns and surmounted by a lantern and golden eagle, crowns the building.
Hill Country History 