Museum New Castle Courthouse Museum 2nd Floor Galleries

Welcome to the second floor galleries of the New Castle Courthouse Museum.

Each virtual exhibit provides photos, written narrative and audio. Please feel free to contact a staff member if you have any questions or difficulty with this tour app.

Built in 1732, the New Castle Court House Museum previously served as Delaware’s first court and state capitol. Here in 1776, New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties declared their independence from Pennsylvania and England creating the Delaware State.

The New Castle Court House, located in the heart of the historic City of New Castle, is one of the oldest surviving courthouses in the United States and a registered National Historic Landmark.

The original 1732 court is built over the remains of the 1680s courthouse, with additions and modifications throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. All jurisdictions of Delaware’s courts, and including the federal courts, have met in this building. The state courts moved to the City of Wilmington in 1881 with the changing of the county seat, but occasional court sessions and proceedings are still held here.

The New Castle Court House is also Delaware’s first capital building and meeting place for the colonial and first state Assembly. On June 15, 1776, the legislature passed a resolution to separate from Pennsylvania and Great Britain, creating the Delaware State.

Two months later, September 20, 1776, the first constitution for the Delaware State was adopted. The capital moved to Dover, Delaware in 1777.