Falmouth Courthouse

1801 1850

The construction of this new Georgian courthouse in 1815 marked Falmouth’s rising prosperity as a port and its importance as the parish seat of Trelawny. Unlike most courthouses, this building overlooks the harbor, acknowledging Falmouth’s economic dependence on the many wharves that originally lined the waterfront. While the chambers upstairs served both legal and social functions, the open arcade of the ground floor follows in a centuries-long English tradition of providing space for merchants, lawyers, and others to mingle and negotiate. As the town’s social and political center, the courthouse was surely the site of heated debates during Emancipation of Jamaica’s enslaved population in 1838 and Jamaican political Independence from England in 1962. Unfortunately the courthouse

Water Square and Market Street District

B028-S002