Giles County Courthouse
Pulaski, Tennessee (County Seat)

Back


           The current courthouse is said to be one of the most beautiful in the entire state.
Each year during the holiday season, it becomes still prettier when decked out with a festive display
of Christmas lights lasting from Thanksgiving through the New Year.

 

In November 1809, Giles County was created by an act of the Tennessee General Assembly from a portion of a Cherokee Indian grant.

It was General Andrew Jackson who suggested that the county be named Giles, in honor of the Congressman, Senator, and Governor of Virginia, William Branch Giles, who 12 years earlier, sponsored the admission of Tennessee as the 16th state in the Union.

The same bill that created the County also named a five-man Commission, which was given instructions to establish the county seat on Richland Creek, as near the center of the County as practicable;  and to sell lots, reserving a Public Square of two acres, on which should be erected a Courthouse, and stocks for the punishment of criminals.

Hacking away 18-foot tall cane breaks from the shores of Richland Creek, early settlers established the town of Pulaski, which was incorporated in 1810.  The first courthouse (destroyed by fire) was built on the present site in 1811.

  • The First:
    - Erected in 1811 - destroyed by fire.
    - Replaced by a 2nd and 3rd building.
  • The Fourth:
    - Completed in 1859 - remained intact throughout the Civil War.
    - Union flag raised above it when Pulaski was occupied by Federal troops.
    - Destroyed by fire on April 20, 1907.
  • Current:
    - Completed in 1909 - built by George Moore and Sons (of Nashville).
    - Neoclassical architecture marked by tall Corinthian columns.
    - In the cupola, the bell from 1858 still strikes the hours.
    - The word Giles is engraved in the solid brass door pulls.