Pickens County Courthouse
Erected 1877-78
Pickens County, named for General Andrew Pickens of South Carolina, was established December 19, 1820. First County Site was Pickensville. On March 5, 1830, the government awarded 80 acres of land at Carrollton for the County Site. The first courthouse erected at Carrollton was burned on April 5, 1865, by troops of Union General John T. Croxton. A freedman, Henry Wells, was accused of burning the second on November 16, 1876. He was arrested in January, 1878, and held in the garret of this building. Legend holds that as Wells peered out the North window at a mob gathering below, lightning struck nearby, indelibly etching his image on the pane.
Marker is at the intersection of Court Square North on Court Square North.
Courtesy hmdb.org
