| The Law establishing Warren County in 1813
specified that sessions of court were to be held in Caldwell (today Lake
George) at the Lake George Coffee House. Lake George continued to be
the seat of county government for many years thereafter. A courthouse,
clerk's office and jail were built between 1815 and 1817, at the corner
of Canada and Amherst Streets, the site used today by the Lake George
Historical Association.
Information on the County's first Court House, constructed on
the Caldwell site between 1815 and 1817 is limited. We do know,
however, that the structure was fashioned with a cupola which
required frequent repairs. In fact, the County at that time had
difficulty obtaining insurance for the building. Unfortunately
their worst fears were realized when, on October 23, 1843, a
fire consumed the building. A replacement brick courtroom building
designed by Glens Falls architect Winfield Sherwood, was erected
in 1845.
The 1845 building still stands, but is more recognizable to
us these days by the tower facade added in 1878, and as being
the home of the Lake George Historical Association.
The courthouse and jail were improved in 1878. The clerk's office
on the corner, a small stone structure, was torn down in 1885,
replaced by a larger building. A new jail was built in 1898.
The Board of Supervisors met either in the courthouse or in the
Armory in Glens Falls until 1905, when a special room for meetings
was prepared on the second floor over the county clerk's office
at Lake George.
Between the 1860's and the 1960's several efforts were undertaken
to move the seat of government from Lake George to Glens Falls,
including a movement to utilize the old Glens Falls Insurance
Company building on Glen Street as a county center. Instead,
the county in 1928 leased quarters in the Colvin Building, down
the street, and moved several judicial, legal, financial and
other offices there. In 1939 the county purchased the old South
Street School at Union Square, Glens Falls, which later provided
office space for Election Commissioners, Veterans' Service, Commissioner
of Jurors, Family Court, Public Health, County Historian and
some County Welfare employees. A proposition was considered in
1940 to purchase the Rogers Building at Monument Square, Glens
Falls, for county offices.
In the 1950s, competing plans for a municipal center in Queensbury
and in Warrensburg were considered. A voter referendum in November
of 1959 approved the moving of the courthouse and clerk's office
to the present site on Route 9 in Queensbury. Construction was
supervised by a committee made up of John Wertime (Chairman),
Lee Orton, DeWitt Tremaine, John Collins, Alden Shaw, Joseph
Fiore and William K. DeLarm. Preparations were made for all county
government, except the Highway Department in Warrensburg, to
move into the present Municipal Center. Groundbreaking ceremonies
took place on December 5, 1961; contracts for construction totaled
nearly $3.5 million. The building opened with dedication ceremonies
on October 13, 1963, in a ceremony presided over by Assemblyman
Richard Bartlett as Master of Ceremonies.
The Warren County Municipal Center -- a building of approximately
136,000 square feet -- was completed at a cost of just under
$4,000,000 and was financed by a 29-year bond at 3% interest.
The last payment was made in 1991.
Hon. John Austin, Family Court Judge
Pamela Vogel, County Historian |
4th JD
