The Colonial Courthouse is a reproduction building that was built in 1976 for the nation's 
Bicentennial Celebration. The original court house stood in the center square of York,
where Market and George Streets meet. It was torn down in 1841.
York was a temporary capital of the United States from November 1777 to June 1778. The Second Continental Congress, who had been meeting in Philadelphia, fled the city after a British victory at the Battle of Brandywine. Congress stopped in Lancaster for one day, but it did not feel safe enough. Members went on to cross the wide Susquehanna River and felt much safer, settling in York for the next nine months.
While in York, Congress completed the Articles of Confederation – our nation’s first form of national government, and a precursor to the present Constitution. Also in York, Congress established a treaty of alliance with France, bringing the French economy and military into the Revolutionary War.