Thanks to our new partner at the Friends of Hyde Countys Historic 1854 Courthouse, DigitalNC is pleased to announce a brand new report on the courthouse is now available online! This report, from 2011, is an exhaustive body of research drafted by the Historic Research Committee Chairman. It records the names of presiding Superior Court Judges as well as the names of Court Pleas Justices, sorted both chronologically and alphabetically. The report also includes a wonderfully detailed history of the 1854 courthouse, including details on the building’s architectural design and its placement on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Chairman’s report also includes biographical excerpts on each presiding court justice, alongside notes on additions and improvements made to the courthouse (such as a secure vault in 1909). This body of work is full of amazing historical anecdotes about significant figures in North Carolina’s history. For example, did you know that Joseph W. Todd is said to have been the only lawyer ever to successfully make a joke to the State Supreme Court? He also coined the name “red-legged grass-hoppers” to the state senate’s internal revenue service, who were the first to wear leather leggins in their walks through the Appalachians in search of moonshine stills. Or that Romulus M. Saunders, a longtime legislator for the state, is said to have a “defective” early education?

Interested in learning more about the eighth oldest courthouse in North Carolina? You can find more materials from the Friends of Hyde Countys Historic 1854 Courthouse online at their partner page.