The Story
Built c.1763 (some accounts cite 1772/1774), this roughly 30-by-40-foot Georgian wood-frame building served as Barnstable County's courtroom, with juries deliberating in a nearby tavern. On September 27, 1774 it was the site of a mass protest against Britain's Coercive Acts, after which county officials refused Parliament's rules; Col. James Otis Sr. presided here 1764-1776 and John Adams argued a case here in 1767. After a new county courthouse opened in 1834 it was remodeled in 1842 into a Baptist church, and since 1972 has housed the nonprofit Tales of Cape Cod.
About this site
Olde Colonial Courthouse is a courthouse in Barnstable, Barnstable County. It is one of 4 courthouses documented in Barnstable County, among 6,897 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.
The site sits at 41.7043, -70.3081 near Barnstable. The nearest cataloged historic site is Soldiers Parade Grounds Marker (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Crocker, Abiah Hinckley House, Crocker, Ezekiel House, and Saint Mary's Episcopal Church.
This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
History
Barnstable's Olde Colonial Courthouse was built around 1763 as a wood-frame Georgian structure to serve as the county's courthouse, with juries deliberating in a nearby tavern. On September 27, 1774, it was the scene of an early act of Revolutionary defiance when a band of patriots barred the King's judge from entering to protest a decree requiring Crown-appointed juries. It later served the Superior Court and, after its court function ended, became a town meeting house before passing into private hands; it now houses the Tales of Cape Cod museum.
Sources: en.wikipedia.orgtalesofcapecod.org
Massachusetts