Johnstown District Court House and Gaol

In 1808, the provincial government authorized the erection of a court house and gaol at Elizabethtown (Brockville) to serve the District of Johnstown created ten years earlier. By 1811, a brick structure had been built here on land donated by William Buell, the founder of Brockville. It was replaced in 1824 by a larger building which remained the judicial and administrative centre of the region until the present court house was completed in 1843. Prominently situated at the head of a public green, this imposing neoclassical structure was designed by the noted Toronto architect John George Howard and constructed by Benjamin Chaffey, a local contractor. Subsequently enlarged and renovated, it retains the arrangement of prison and court facilities so effectively integrated in the original plan.

En 1808, le gouvernement provincial autorisa la construction d’un palais de justice et d’une prison à Elizabethtown (Brockville) pour desservir le district de Johnstown, crée dix ans plus tôt. En 1811, un edifice en briques avait été construit sur ce site offert par William Buell, fondateur de Brockville. If fut remplacé en 1824 par un bâtiment plus important qui demeura le centre judiciaire et administrative de la region jusqu’à la construction du palais de justice actuel, en 1843. Dominant un parc public, cet imposant edifice néo-classique fut dessiné par John George Howard, architecte torontois de renom, et construit par Benjamin Chaffey, un entrepreneur local. Agrandi et rénové plus tard, il conserve encore la disposition des courts et des prisons qui faisait si intégralement partie du plan original.