Rutherford County Courthouse

The Rutherford County Courthouse is a Classical Revival building completed in 1859, sitting at the centre of Murfreesboro's public square. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and remains the working courthouse for Rutherford County — one of the oldest continuously operating courthouses in the state.

The square itself is the commercial and social heart of Murfreesboro, lined with restaurants, bars, and shops. The courthouse's Italianate clock tower dominates the skyline in an otherwise low-rise downtown. Several other historic buildings surround the square, including the First Presbyterian Church (1812), which claims to be the oldest congregation in Middle Tennessee.

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The courthouse was completed in 1859 and survived the Civil War largely intact, partly because Union forces used it as their headquarters after occupying Murfreesboro. The building is one of very few antebellum county courthouses still standing in Tennessee, and its position at the centre of the public square gives the downtown a character that most Tennessee cities have lost to urban renewal.