Editor's note: This is first installment in an occasional column by local historian William G. Schwab.

A mere 14 years after the Lehigh Canal was completed, the economic might of the area was so great that Carbon County came into being.By Act Number 41 on March 13, 1843, the county was formed from parts of Northampton and Monroe counties.Reading the statute, there was not a great deal of controversy separating those townships north of the Blue Mountain from Northampton County, but apparently there was some negotiation as to what would be taken from Monroe County.Carbon County would only "embrace" the Township of Penn Forest.To make it even more definite, the act went on to say it "shall constitute the whole of the territory taken from Monroe county (sic)."One can only assume by this language that there was some concern that more land would be taken than what today is East Side Borough, Kidder and Penn Forest townships.Under the act a new court was established.A date was set for which no one could any longer file a lawsuit in Northampton or Monroe counties, but rather in Carbon County.A new sheriff and county officers would be elected in the next general election in November 1843. Carbon County would begin to function as a separate government.The county seatThe selecting of the county seat, though, was not left to the residents of Carbon County to choose. The act required that the governor was to appoint three disinterested persons who were not residents of Northampton, Luzerne, Lehigh, or Columbia counties to "fix a proper convenience site near the center of the county for courthouse, prison and county offices."Gov. Porter appointed representatives from Clearfield, Pike and Northumberland counties.Five people also were named to receive written offers of real estate and money to help defray the expenses of land for public buildings. Both Lehighton and Mauch Chunk were in the running to be named the county seat, but the selection of the county seat became easier when the Lehigh Navigation Company agreed at its own expense to provide buildings for the courthouse in Mauch Chunk.On June 19, 1843, the selection of Mauch Chunk as the county seat was formally announced.An old stone company storehouse was donated as the center of the newly formed county.It lasted only three years when it was destroyed by fire and the county decided to build its first proper courthouse with four columns and a cupola on the top it.Late in the 19th century that building became too small and the commissioners decided yet another, larger courthouse was needed.New quartersIn 1893 the old the courthouse was demolished in a month's time at the cost of $1,600 and a new one was built to recognize the wealth of Carbon County, from coal and railroading.The architect was paid 2 percent of the proposed cost of the building to design it.During construction, county government moved across the street to the Lehigh Navigation Building. For these temporary quarters, the county paid $50 a month, which was later changed to $125 per month. The total cost of construction was about $120,000.The redstone came from a nearby quarry at Rockport. The European tile work that you see in the hallways today is the original tile. The courtroom on the second floor has the same with its ornate woodwork. The furnishings, the desks and chairs cost $22,725.First to set up officeLess than a year after ground was broken on May 1, 1894, the Recorder of Deeds/Register of Wills (then a combined office) were the first to move into where the Probation Office is today.Later the commissioners moved into what today is Register of Wills Office. The law library and the judge's chambers were where the current District Attorney's Office is located. Grand jury rooms and space for rent were on the third floor.The enterprising commissioners rented spare office space in the courthouse initially to a broker and then later to attorneys. Not to be outdone, the sheriff rented space in its office to the Mauch Chunk, Lehighton and Slatington Railway.This continued until 1909, when these tenants had to vacate as space was needed for an expanding government.Later the continued government growth led to a decision to add an annex northwest of the existing courthouse. Land was purchased for $10,500 in 1926, but the annex was delayed being built until October 1936, when a grant of $40,050 from the Public Works Administration helped pay the $89,000 cost.While office locations have changed and rooms remodeled, that completed the physical courthouse as we know it today.