Michigan's oldest working courthouse

The city of Lapeer is named for the Flint River. Early French speakers called the river “la pierre” — “the stone” — after the flinty rock in its bed, and the name stuck to the settlement that grew up here, the county seat since the 1830s.

Lapeer’s pride and joy stands on Courthouse Square downtown: the old Lapeer County Courthouse, a white wooden Greek Revival building with tall columns, put up in 1845 and 1846. It’s the oldest courthouse still in use anywhere in Michigan — its historical marker even calls it one of the ten oldest courthouses in the country. (Berrien County’s is a few years older but is now a museum.) The county’s busier offices, jail, and other courts moved to a newer complex behind it long ago; the historic second-floor courtroom now hosts only the occasional session, and in recent years the building has been undergoing restoration. Inside, it also keeps a small local-history display.

It’s worth a look if you’re downtown: nearly two centuries on, it’s one of the most photographed landmarks in the county and a reminder of how far back Lapeer’s roots run.