Once Greene County was formed and the county government established, a pressing need became immediately apparent: finding a location for the county’s seat of government. A large tract of centrally located land in Franklin Township was purchased from Thomas Slater to establish the county seat of Waynesburg. The town was laid out, divided into lots, and the first lot was sold to Christian Sellers for the sum of twenty-one dollars. A location to hold court, however, had not yet been determined. So, on January 2, 1797, the first court was held at the home of Jacob Cline on Muddy Creek, about five miles east of Waynesburg. Shortly thereafter, the county gained a lot at the intersection of Greene Street and Whiskey Alley in the newly formed town of Waynesburg. They began the construction of a log courthouse. This log building still stands and is now the home of Cornerstone Genealogical Society. On April 3, 1797, court was convened at Jacob Clines residence for the last time, then moved that same day and adjourned in the freshly built log courthouse.
The log courthouse served the steadily growing county for just three years, when in 1800, John Milliken, of Morris Township, Greene County Pennsylvania, was contracted to build a new brick courthouse in the public square, along High Street in Waynesburg. This courthouse was on the same site as, and later replaced by, the current courthouse.
Over the course of the next two centuries, the original log courthouse served as a residence for several families and would be the site of different businesses.
Many of us will remember the appearance of the original log courthouse as it appeared before its restoration in the early 2000s, with its light blue siding and signage for “Davin’s Strip Shop,” a furniture stripping business that was the last active business to occupy the building.
The County of Greene acquired the log courthouse in April 2000, and restoration began. At the time, Cornerstone Genealogical Society had outgrown the space that they occupied on the second floor of the Bowlby Library and received a lease for the log courthouse and convert it into their new home – a home which they still occupy today.
The original log courthouse right here in Waynesburg is unique in the state of Pennsylvania, as it is the only log courthouse to remain on its original lot.