Historic Robert Mills Courthouse

Designed in 1825 by "South Carolina's Architect", Robert Mills and completed in 1827, the courthouse features a copper roof, brick floors, vaulted central hallway, double arched ceilings downstairs, and vestiges of its original radiant heat systems.  Built to be fireproof, the walls of the structure are 22-inch thick masonry at the base covered by plaster, tapering to about fifteen inches thick at the second floor.  The courtroom is restored to conform to an 1845 renovation, when wide pine plank floors were installed to cover the second story brick floor.  The judge's bench and witness stand are as Mills designed them.  The original ornate woodwork is visible above period silk and damask window treatments.  The courthouse also features:

• Barrel vaulted ceilings on lower level.

• Original headstone of Baron deKalb, Revolutionary War hero.

• The Sporting Life Gallery, a museum with exhibits from equine, canine, and shooting sports that sustained the area for over a century.

• Robert Mills, America's first architect, who studied under Thomas Jefferson, PIerre L' Enfant, and James Hoban, also designed the Washington Monument and the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington, D.C.

Now home to the Kershaw County Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center, the building is handicap accessible and is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and is closed on Sundays and major holidays. Enter through the Visitors' Center entrance, downstairs on the south side of the building.  Tours are free and available during business hours.  Access may be limited when special events are being held in the building. For more information call (803) 432-2525.