Court House Square, identified in 1785 as the site of the courthouse and jail for the newly established Edgefield District, has stood at the center of local life for more than two centuries. The present courthouse, built in 1839, still serves as the center of government for Edgefield County. Nearby are the Edgefield History Wall in the park beyond the Square's northwest corner, the Tompkins Memorial Library and Welcome Center on the Square's north side with its genealogical library and visitor information, and three living history projects sponsored by the Edgefield Historical Society: the Old Edgefield Pottery, the Village Blacksmith, and the Carpenter's Stand. Also close at hand are the Discovery Center for Region 2 of the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor on Main Street, Trinity Episcopal Church behind it, Willowbrook Cemetery several blocks to the north, and Oakley Park, an antebellum house museum and shrine to the Red Shirt movement of 1876, a half mile east at the far end of Main Street.