Gates County Courthouse in Gatesville, North Carolina

Aug 24, 2016 Wed0Confederate Statues

Laurie and I like riding our Gold Wing motorcycle. But it is easy to get into a rut and just ride the same roads. So to force ourselves to ride to places we would not normally visit we made a goal to visit and photograph all 100 North Carolina courthouses within 1 year.

As usual, we got a little behind. We started in July 2015 and finished 99 out of 100 by June 2018. The last courthouse was in our home county of Wake and it took us until Feb 2021 to get that final one. But we made it! This blog is about one of those visits.

Many NC courthouses were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The nomination form has some interesting facts about the various courthouse styles over the years.






Courthouse Information


Wikipedia says the following about the courthouse:

Gates County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located at Gatesville, Gates County, North Carolina. It was built in 1836, and is a two-story, "T"-shaped, seven bay, Federal style brick building. It has a three bay central projecting entrance pavilion and a delicate cast-iron second floor balcony added in 1904.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.






County Information


The North Carolina History Project lists the following information for this county:

Named after General Horatio Gates, of Revolutionary War fame, Gates County, much like Franklin County, was founded in 1779 during America's struggle for independence. However, the land that comprises Gates County was widely inhabited by the Chowanoke Indians prior to English settlement in the late sixteenth century. Small settlements dotted the county's countryside by the early 1700s.

Much of the county's historical relevance occurs during the nineteenth century. Gates County's rich religious history aided in what some historians call the "democratization of Christianity." Some of the states earliest Baptist and Methodist churches were founded in Gates County, notably the Middle Swamp Baptist Church in 1806 and the Savages United Methodist Church in 1811. Both denominations preached to integrated congregations, a practice that continued by in large until the Civil War.

Gates County residents, however, voiced strong opinions regarding secession and the Civil War. A.J. Walton was chosen by Gates countians to represent them at North Carolina's secession convention. When the war commenced, Gates County was the first to summon a company and a few Gates countians rose to prominence in the new Confederate States of America. William P. Roberts went on to become the youngest Brigadier General in the Confederacy and Laurence H. Simmons also rose to the rank of Brigadier General. The county supplied the Confederate States of America with food by shipping it through the Great Dismal Swamp Canal.

In the 1900s, technological innovation changed the county's landscape. Bridges were constructed to connect Gates County with its neighbors. Railroads emerged as the new form of transportation and trade, significantly aiding the export of the counties timber and agricultural industries, and consequently turning the Great Dismal Swamp Canal into a recreational site.

Gatesville, the county seat and only major town in the county, surprisingly doesn't account for much of the county's population. In fact, Gates County's population hasn't even doubled in the last 200 years, currently home to 10,000 residents. However, the county prides itself on sparsely populated towns, for people there believe the towns build a strong and unified community. When Thaddeus Eure's, North Carolina's longest tenured Secretary of State, political career began, he appealed to this close-knit community to "give a young man a chance," espousing the intimacy of county. The other towns in Gates County include Hall, Reynoldson, Haslett, Holly Grove, Hunters Mill, and Mintonsville.

Geographically, Gates County offers pristine views of the Albemarle Sound to its south and contains a portion of the Great Dismal Swamp Canal. Both bodies of water are predominantly used for recreational activity and leisure. Merchants Millpond State Park also falls within county limits. The park is famous for its cypress trees and its large swamp.






Our Experience


There is a new modern courthouse near this building. I hope they can restore and reuse the historic courthouse.

Aug 24, 2016 Wed 1:17:01 PM EDT Altitude: 5 ft Camera: X100TDisplay on Google Map
Gates County Courthouse in Gatesville, North Carolina
Aug 24, 2016 Wed 1:17:29 PM EDT Altitude: 5 ft Camera: X100TDisplay on Google Map
Gates County Courthouse in Gatesville, North Carolina
Aug 24, 2016 Wed 1:18:23 PM EDT Altitude: 5 ft Camera: X100TDisplay on Google Map
Gates County Courthouse in Gatesville, North Carolina
Aug 24, 2016 Wed 1:19:00 PM EDT Altitude: 5 ft Camera: X100TDisplay on Google Map
Gates County Courthouse in Gatesville, North Carolina
Aug 24, 2016 Wed 1:19:11 PM EDT Altitude: 5 ft Camera: X100TDisplay on Google Map
Gates County Courthouse in Gatesville, North Carolina
Aug 24, 2016 Wed 1:19:39 PM EDT Altitude: 5 ft Camera: X100TDisplay on Google Map
Gates County Courthouse in Gatesville, North Carolina
Aug 24, 2016 Wed 1:21:32 PM EDT Altitude: 4 ft Camera: X100TDisplay on Google Map
Gates County Courthouse in Gatesville, North Carolina



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Henderson County Courthouse in Hendersonville, North Carolina




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