The county courthouse stood on this site from 1871 to 1874 after Republican state senator Charles P. Leslie, a native of New York, sponsored an 1869 act to move the county seat from Barnwell to Blackville. Court was first held in a church until a two-story brick courthouse was built at a cost of $8000. After the county seat returned to Barnwell, the courthouse housed Blackville Academy and later a public school.