The Berrien County Historic Courthouse Square, also called the History Center at Courthouse Square, is the oldest town square in the Midwest. It is a historic area located in Berrien Springs, Michigan. The site covers 1.6 acres and includes five buildings. Two of these buildings are the oldest of their kind in Michigan: the 1839 Courthouse, which is Michigan’s oldest courthouse, and the 1829 Murdoch Cabin, Michigan’s oldest two-story cabin. The land and buildings are owned by Berrien County and managed by the Berrien County Historical Association. The 1839 Courthouse was added to the United States Department of the Interior National Register of Historic Places in 1970. In the 1970s, the Berrien County Historical Association submitted a new application to include the entire courthouse square. The application was approved, and the whole complex was added to the national register in 1982.
History
Berrien County was officially created in 1829 but became organized in 1831. The location of county offices was strongly debated between Niles and St. Joseph, with Berrien Springs chosen in 1837 because it was in the center of the county and easy to reach for everyone. That same year, the county accepted a donation of land on Union Street and began building the first permanent county building, a two-story wooden jail, which opened in 1838. In 1838, the county asked for bids to build the County Courthouse and selected Gilbert B. Avery to design it. Completed in 1839, the courthouse started working in April 1839 and served as both a government building and a community center for Berrien Springs and Berrien County residents.
Over the next few decades, the county grew, and the Commissioners needed more space. In 1860, the county again hired Gilbert Avery to design the Records Building, which was built by George Murdock. The one-story building quickly became too small, so a two-story addition was added in 1973. The county records, Registrar, and Probate Judge offices were housed there. With the addition, the complex stretched from Union Street to Madison Street along North Cass Street in Berrien Springs.
Two more buildings were constructed on this town square site: the 1870 Sheriff’s Office and the second County Jail. Avery was hired to design the buildings, but he had to oversee construction after problems with the builder. The buildings were completed by the end of 1869, and the sheriff and his family moved in during January 1870. After prisoners were moved to the new jail, the old jail was converted into an outbuilding. A small road passed through the property, allowing visitors to walk or ride a buggy to each building.
Although Berrien Springs was in the middle of the county and easy to reach, property investors in St. Joseph tried to move the county seat to St. Joseph to benefit their city. In 1894, a vote was held to decide whether the county seat should move. The weeks before the election were tense as Berrien Springs, St. Joseph, and Niles competed for the county seat, with newspapers playing a major role. After Benton Harbor supported St. Joseph, the city won the election by less than 20 votes. The loss was painful for Berrien Springs, and The Berrien Springs Era wrote, “The motive power used in the removal was mostly furnished by horses, but the direction of affairs was left to the jackasses, of which St. Joe has an abundance.” St. Joseph responded to their victory in a passive-aggressive way, tipping their hats to their neighbors after the conflict.
In 1895, the county started building a new courthouse in St. Joseph. While some operations moved to St. Joseph immediately, others stayed in Berrien Springs for at least a year. This included the Sheriff, whose new home and jail were completed in early fall 1895. The second courthouse in St. Joseph had to be demolished in the 1960s because of serious structural problems.
Even though the county no longer needed the complex in Berrien Springs, it was hesitant to sell it at first. Residents continued using the Courthouse for meetings, weddings, and community events, and even established a dance hall and armory. In 1900, Battle Creek College, a Seventh-day Adventist school, decided to move to Berrien Springs. While their new campus was being built, the college, which later renamed itself Emmanuel Missionary College (now Andrews University), asked the county to rent the old complex buildings. The county agreed, and the 1901–1902 school year was held with administrative offices in the Records Building, classes in the Sheriff’s Residence and Courthouse, and the courtroom serving as the college chapel open to the public. After the college moved to its new campus, the buildings were again used by the community, the college, and the growing Seventh-day Adventist community, who had moved to Berrien Springs to attend the college but stayed permanently after finishing their studies.
By the 1910s, the county separated the complex and sold the Records Building and Sheriff’s Office, which were converted into apartments. The jail was torn down in 1916 because it was no longer needed. This left the courthouse and town square under county ownership. The Seventh-day Adventist community grew, and they asked the county to rent the Courthouse as a church after Emmanuel Missionary College moved to its new campus. The agreement lasted until 1922, when the church elders of the “Village Church” decided to buy the building. After purchasing land west of the courthouse, the church built an auxiliary building for meetings and to house the Village Seventh-day Adventist school. By the 1950s, a second building at the corner of North Cass Street and Madison Street was constructed as a doctor’s office.
In 1965, the SDA Village Church realized its congregation had outgrown the Courthouse space and built a new church less than a mile from the Courthouse. The church officially moved into the new building in 1966, and two of the three buildings it owned on the courthouse square continued as the Village Seventh-day Adventist School. The Sheriff’s Residence remained privately owned, having been converted into apartments, while the Old Records Building became a mixed-use residential and commercial building.
In 1968, the Berrien County Historical Commission and Berrien County worked together to buy the part of the complex owned by the SDA church, aiming to restore the Courthouse. Over the next eight years, the BCHC raised the funds needed to complete the restoration, which was finished in 1975. The Courthouse remains an active Berrien County courthouse and is used for weddings, special ceremonies, and educational purposes as outlined in MCL – Section 600.1515 of the Michigan Revised Judicature Act of 1961 –
The Buildings of the History Center at Courthouse Square
The Old Berrien County Courthouse Complex was renamed the History Center at Courthouse Square to better tell the story of Berrien County and the BCHA. Five buildings are on the property, but only four are open to the public for exhibits and events.
The Courthouse was built in 1839 and follows the Greek Revival style. The lower level once held county offices before the Records Building was built. It remained used for court-related tasks until the county seat moved in 1984. The building also served as an armory, dance hall, community center, and workspace for groups like the Christian Brethren, Shakers, and Seventh-day Adventists. It cost $2,500 to build and is listed on the state and national Register of Historic Places. It was also named a legal milestone by the Michigan Bar Association in 2013.
By 1859, the county needed more space because the lower level of the Courthouse was too small. The commissioners approved a new fireproof building. Gilbert Avery designed the one-story brick structure, and George H. Murdock was hired to build it for $3,000. Murdock struggled to finish the project, so Avery took over and completed it in less than a year. In February 1860, the County Clerk, Treasurer, and Register of Deeds moved into the new building.
The building was expanded in 1873 with a two-story Italianate addition. This allowed more space for offices and housed the Judge of Probate. The building was used by the county until 1894, when an election decided to move the county seat to St. Joseph. Everything was temporarily relocated until the 1896 Courthouse was completed.
After the move, the Courthouse Square buildings faced many changes. From 1901 to 1902, the grounds were used as a temporary campus for Emmanuel Missionary College (later Andrews University). Later, the land was sold to private owners, and the buildings were modified over time. The two-story section was used as apartments, a laundromat, and a soft water company until the 2000s. By the 1960s, the building was in poor condition.
The county worked to reclaim the Courthouse Square. By 1990, the building was owned by the county. Tenants remained until at least 2000. Plans for the building included offices, storage, and exhibits, but costs made renovations difficult.
In 2006, the BCHA started a campaign to raise $2.3 million for renovations. However, the Great Recession and a fire in 2007 delayed progress. The fire damaged the interior and roof but did not harm the building’s structure. By 2009, a new roof and repairs were completed, but windows remained closed.
The building, completed in 1870, is two stories tall. The lower levels had living space and the sheriff’s office, while the second floor had bedrooms. A rear wing included a kitchen on both levels. A porch added later was not part of the original design. The sheriff could access the jail through pass-through doors in the office and one room upstairs. Nine sheriffs lived there while the county seat was in Berrien Springs. The building was abandoned after the seat moved to St. Joseph.
Like the Courthouse and Records Building, the Sheriff’s Residence was used by Emmanuel Missionary College in 1901–1902. After the college moved, the building was empty for years. It was later sold and converted into apartments. Unlike the Records Building, no additions were made to the Sheriff’s Residence. When the BCHA purchased it in 1975, exterior updates were smooth. A fire later damaged the upper levels, requiring full renovation.
During the original restoration, the office was restored to its 1870 design, while the lower levels became temporary exhibit space. The office was renovated in 2021, and the interpretation now focuses on the 1885 time period. Permanent displays were added, and the upper levels became office and research spaces. The rear wing now houses archives. The lower level briefly had a gift shop but has since returned to exhibit space.
The jail was built at the same time as the Sheriff’s Residence and was two stories tall. A skylight shaped like an upside-down cone with a glass globe provided light and ventilation. Inside, Avery designed a circular layout for jail cells, with the center rising two stories. The upper level had eight larger cells for women, children, and less serious offenders, while the lower level had sixteen smaller cells for men. The small size of the cells was often noted by visitors.
The lower cells had two doors: outer bars and a solid interior door (likely metal) that allowed prisoners to use a washtub in the center. A 700-barrel rainwater cistern beneath the building supplied water. Prisoners on the upper levels used an empty cell to access the washtub before returning to their cells.
The design sometimes worked too well. In July 1883, eight prisoners used the layout to escape. They removed the washtub, drained the cistern, and dug a tunnel under the jail’s north wall.