Wilkes County Courthouse, County courthouse in Washington, US.

The Wilkes County Courthouse is a county courthouse in Washington featuring a prominent clock tower and Romanesque Revival design with sand-colored and red brick. The building displays classical architectural elements and occupies a central location in the town square.

Wilkes County's first court met in a private residence in 1779; a log courthouse followed in 1785, replaced by a clapboard building in 1786 and a two-story former residence in 1804. The 1817 brick courthouse, Georgia's first with a clock tower, stood until 1904, when the current building by Frank Pierce Milburn opened on the site of the Heard House, where Jefferson Davis dissolved the Confederate government on May 4, 1865. A 1958 fire destroyed the roof and tower, partially restored in 1989.

The courthouse lawn holds a plaque and granite monument marking the May 4, 1865 meeting where Jefferson Davis held the final session of the Confederate Cabinet, dissolving the Confederate government; a Georgia Historical Society marker also stands here. The building remains the working seat of Wilkes County's Superior Court and county government.

The courthouse sits in the town's central square and is easy to find and approach from multiple directions. Keep in mind that it functions as an active courthouse, so some areas may not be open to the public or may require security screening.

The 1817 courthouse on the public square was the first in Georgia to have a clock tower; it was demolished in 1904 once the present building replaced it. The earlier courthouse site also held the Heard House, where Jefferson Davis convened the last Confederate Cabinet session on May 4, 1865, dissolving the Confederate government; a plaque and granite monument now mark this.