Abbeville County Courthouse, County courthouse in Abbeville, South Carolina.

Abbeville County Courthouse is a monumental two-story brick building with a large Ionic columned portico and decorative exterior details that reflect its official purpose. Inside, administrative offices occupy the ground floor while the main courtroom on the second floor features three stained glass windows positioned behind the judge's bench.

The present courthouse is the sixth to serve Abbeville County. The fourth courthouse burned in 1872, and its 1875 successor was replaced in 1908 by this Beaux-Arts design from Darlington-born architect William Augustus Edwards. It was renovated in 1964 by Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle, and Wolff of Columbia and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 30, 1981.

In the central hallway hangs a portrait of John C. Calhoun, twice vice-president and longtime South Carolina senator, who was born southwest of town on his father's plantation. Calhoun practiced law for a short time on the county square, and the courthouse stands on land that once held the law firm where he began his career.

The courthouse stands at the east corner of Court Square, and a brick arcade links it to the Abbeville Opera House and Municipal Center. It is a working court, so the central hallway and courtroom are open only when no proceedings are under way; check locally before crossing the square to visit.

The courthouse stands on land that once held the law office where John C. Calhoun practiced early in his career; a portrait of the South Carolina senator and twice vice-president hangs in the central hallway. Calhoun was born southwest of Abbeville on his father's plantation.