Spotlight: Somerset County Courthouse

By Mike Mathis

Judiciary Times Editor

Church and state are joined in an unusual way on the green in Somerville.

From as early as the first decade of the 20th century, a church and a courthouse have stood there. Once slated for demolition, the 19th century former First Reformed Church now serves as a waiting room for petit jurors and is occasionally used as an assembly space for court functions. Also once eyed for demolition, the Somerset County Courthouse - a landmark on North Bridge Street since its completion in 1909 – was renovated and still houses courtrooms, judges’ chambers and offices for court staff.

The church was completed in 1898 and was given to Somerset County in 1974 by the congregation with the stipulation that it not be demolished for 10 years.

From 1979 to 1985, the church was used for courtrooms, a makeshift jury room and office space. The church was slated for demolition in 1985 but was saved by freeholders and preservationists. Many original elements of the interior have been retained, including the oak woodwork and the intricate system of exposed beams that support the roof. The central stairwell in the vestibule leads to the bell tower, where the original church bell is housed. There are 20 stained glass windows in the church. One set of windows shows a crown, cross, and purple passionflower motif and bears the inscription "Gift of James A. Case. The Cases were a prominent New Jersey family that lived in Somerville. The family included Clarence E. Case, who served as an associate justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1948 until 1952.

When Somerset County was founded in 1688, most of its judicial affairs were conducted in Middlesex County, according to the Somerset County website. In 1714, the colonial assembly authorized construction of a courthouse in Somerset County. Freeholders chose a location in Franklin Township for a courthouse and jail, both of which were destroyed by fire in 1737. A second courthouse was constructed in present day Millstone Borough and stood until 1779, when it was burned down by invading British forces, the website states. The county appointed a committee in 1782 to build a new courthouse. The committee met with members of the Dutch Reformed Church and agreed to build a courthouse in Somerville.

The county court continued to use this structure until 1799, when the fourth courthouse was constructed. In 1849, the courthouse was enlarged with the addition of another story and a portico on the front. There were two smaller buildings on the courthouse green at the time that served as offices for the county clerk and surrogate, the website states. As Somerset County’s population increased at the turn of the 20th century, the need for a new courthouse grew. The freeholders agreed to build the current courthouse in 1905 at a cost of $227,589. They selected an architectural firm headed by James Riely Gordon, who designed the Arizona, Mississippi and Montana capitol buildings and 70 courthouses in the southwest.

Gordon designed a structure containing 46 offices and rooms. It featured a paneled rotunda extending from the ground floor to a leaded glass dome in the roof, surrounded by a marble lantern. There were five courtrooms opening into the galleries on different floors around the central rotunda. The white, Alabama marble-faced courthouse was targeted for demolition years later because it became too small for the growing county. Instead, county officials decided to restore the building and built a much larger, modern building next door in 1986