GeorgiaThe grounds of the Old Baker County Courthouse in Newton were the scene of one of Georgia's most consequential racial-terror killings: in January 1943 Sheriff Claude Screws and two other officers beat Robert "Bobby" Hall, a Black mechanic and army veteran, to death in public view outside the courthouse after arresting him on a fabricated charge. The resulting prosecution reached the U.S. Supreme Court as Screws v. United States (1945), a landmark decision that made it far harder for the federal government to prosecute local officials for such crimes and that still shapes federal civil-rights law. The courthouse where this took place is a striking Romanesque Revival building completed in 1900 to a design by the prolific Georgia architect J. W. Golucke, distinguished by a tall central clock tower and corner turrets, and listed on the National Register on September 18, 1980. County offices left the flood-prone building after severe flooding of the nearby Flint River in 1994, and it was later adapted for library and public-agency use. Its architecture is memorable, but its place in American legal history rests on the death of Robert Hall.
Baker County Courthouse (Courthouse)
The stone-and-brick heart of every Georgia county.
Baker County Courthouse is a courthouse in Newton, Baker County. It is one of 42 historic sites cataloged in Baker County on Georgia Roam.
The site sits at 31.3178, -84.3423 near Newton. The nearest cataloged historic site is Pleasant Grove Church Cemetery (cemetery), about 0.4 miles away. Others within a short drive include Newton City Cemetery, Baker County, and Baker County Courthouse.
This record is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
The grounds of the Old Baker County Courthouse in Newton were the scene of one of Georgia's most consequential racial-terror killings: in January 1943 Sheriff Claude Screws and two other officers beat Robert "Bobby" Hall, a Black mechanic and army veteran, to death in public view outside the courthouse after arresting him on a fabricated charge. The resulting prosecution reached the U.S. Supreme Court as Screws v. United States (1945), a landmark decision that made it far harder for the federal government to prosecute local officials for such crimes and that still shapes federal civil-rights law. The courthouse where this took place is a striking Romanesque Revival building completed in 1900 to a design by the prolific Georgia architect J. W. Golucke, distinguished by a tall central clock tower and corner turrets, and listed on the National Register on September 18, 1980. County offices left the flood-prone building after severe flooding of the nearby Flint River in 1994, and it was later adapted for library and public-agency use. Its architecture is memorable, but its place in American legal history rests on the death of Robert Hall.
“Baker County Courthouse” names 2 distinct records in Baker County. This page is the courthouse in Newton. The others:
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