Polk County’s one and only permanent courthouse will be the topic of the Polk County Historical Association inaugural program for 2019.

The January program will be held at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday inside the Polk County Historical Museum, at 60 Walker St. in downtown Columbus. There is no cost to attend, and the public is invited. 

Polk County native John Vining will be the presenter. He was actively involved in the restoration of the courthouse and will talk about the architectural features of the building and share little tidbits of the 159-year-old building.

The 1859 structure is only one of 14 antebellum courthouses that remains in North Carolina.   

In 2018, the historic courthouse was nominated and selected as PCHA’s Polk County’s number one historic wonder. It is the oldest courthouse in use in the western half of the state and the eighth-oldest structure used as a courthouse.