A solid bronze one-half-ton bell stood in the clock tower of the North Lee Street courthouse, where it tolled the hours for seventy-two years. Sumter County has had four courthouses since it was incorporated in 1832. The first, a simple wooden structure, was built in 1833 on East Forsyth Street. In 1848, a Georgian-type brick courthouse was constructed on the square between West Lamar and West Forsyth. It was used until 1887, when a Victorian-type courthouse was built on North Lee Street. The fourth Sumter County courthouse, on this site, is a modern one-story brick building faced with pink Georgia marble.