Lancaster County Courthouse

The old Lancaster County courthouse in South Carolina was constructed in 1828 and used as a courthouse for most of the last two centuries. Active use stopped due to an arsonist’s attempt to demolish the building in 2008. The building was subsequently restored in 2011 and is now the Lancaster History Museum.

The design for the courthouse has been attributed to Robert Mills, a prominent early American architect, and for this reason the structure was designated as a national historic landmark in 1973.

More interesting than the building itself are the events that allegedly took place on the site it occupies. It is said that the last witch trial to take place in the U.S., and possibly, the western world, occurred here. According to letters and articles published in the mid-1800s, a Chesterfield woman named Barbara Powers was accused of turning a young girl into a horse and riding her into town, at which point she burglarized local shops by shrinking herself and entering through the buildings’ keyholes. She subsequently rode the young girl to Chesterfield and Cheraw to steal goods in the same manner, before returning the girl to human form.

Though some records of the allegations exist, records of the trial or verdict do not, so it is impossible to verify this story. Regardless, this is a very interesting bit of local legend.