The Elbert County Courthouse was built in 1894 and opened in a formal ceremony at the beginning of January 1895 as the third county courthouse building and fourth county site in Elbert County. After the private home of Thomas A. Carter on Beaverdam Creek northwest of Elberton was used briefly as the first court venue, the first permanent courthouse was constructed circa 1791-1792 behind the location of the present courthouse, according to John H. McIntosh and other sources. In 1816, the General Assembly of Georgia authorized the second courthouse, which was constructed in the middle of the public square. Reuben H. Hunt, an Elbert County native of Hunt & Lamm in Chattanooga, Tennessee, designed the third courthouse in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, and L.L. Stephenson of Covington, Georgia, was the contractor. E. Brewer Tate, chairman of the Elbert County Commissioners, led the effort to fund the new building, which was erected on the old Globe Hotel lot measuring 217 feet by 250 feet on the western side of the square. Construction began May 3, 1894, with the laying of the cornerstone on the northeast corner by members of the Grand Masonic Lodge of Georgia. After the grand opening, the Elberton Star said Elbert County could boast of the best and most complete temple of justice in Georgia and one that would stand as a monument to the progress of that generation. Characteristic Richardsonian Romanesque features included an arcaded loggia on the second floor, a central clock tower, and a pair of corner turrets at the rear. Exterior materials included pressed red brick walls, local granite trim and details, galvanized iron cornices, a slate roof, and a copper dome, while exterior wood was limited to doors and windows to reduce maintenance. Inside, the first floor served as the main office story, the basement held various use rooms, an elegant double staircase rose from the entrance vestibule to the second story with the courtroom and other functional rooms, and the third story contained additional miscellaneous rooms. In the tower were a large bell and a Seth Thomas town clock. Interior materials included Georgia marble floors in the vestibule and first- and second-story hallways, as well as oiled and polished oak for windows, door facings, mantels, and wainscoting. Later changes included the addition of an elevator at the northern rear and a granite ramp on the southern side of the front entrance to provide universal access. A mid-20th-century fire led to the brick being painted gray, but in 2000 the building was repainted red. From 2005 to 2008, Dennis Young, Elbert County Construction & Maintenance Supervisor, and his team carried out architect Bill Howell's restoration and renovation plan, making improvements throughout to return the courthouse to the splendor envisioned by Reuben H. Hunt.