When “Matlock” filmed in Wilmington in the early-1990s, the murder-mystery courtroom drama showed Thalian Hall—the white columned building that houses City Hall—as the courthouse where Andy Griffith’s character practiced.
With Wilmington’s latest locally filmed show—Fox’s “Sleepy Hollow”—the television spotlight has shifted next door, pointed squarely on what was at one time an actual courthouse: the New Hanover County Historic Courthouse building.
The 19th-century, brick-and-stone building that towers above Wilmington’s Third Street corridor has a starring role in the hit fall series, serving as the town’s finely appointed police station. Its red-and-gray exterior appears in nearly every episode, setting the scene for police-room banter that is shot at EUE/Screen Gems Studios.
While the courthouse has seen its fair share of filming, with productions shooting inside over the years, the building’s exterior has never been shown on screen as much as it is in “Sleepy Hollow,” said Johnny Griffin, director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission.
“I don’t know of any that featured the courthouse this prominently,” Griffin said. “I know there’ve been several that filmed at the courthouse and featured interiors.”
Such productions include “Dawson’s Creek,” “One Tree Hill” and last year’s “Revolution,” as well as feature films including “Domestic Disturbance,” “Hornet’s Nest” and last year’s “Mary and Martha.”
Mark Boyer, of New Hanover County’s NHCTV, agreed “Sleepy Hollow” is the building’s calling card. The county’s media production coordinator, Boyer has been the go-to guy for filming on county property for 15 years.
“Just about every episode you’ll see the historic courthouse. They don’t do much inside,” Boyer said, noting the only interior action is typically film crews walking in and out of the building.
A similar scenario was the case for “Matlock,” which showed Thalian Hall as its courthouse building but shot its interior courtroom scenes in the federal building at the foot of Market Street.
Boyer noted the historic courthouse has played a police station before, for interior shots in “One Tree Hill.” Other roles over the years have included a train station in “Dawson’s Creek,” and—fittingly—a courthouse in several productions.
Its roles in reality have been just as varied, serving as a courthouse initially, then housing county offices and the convention and visitors bureau, to its current use as sheriff’s department offices and the formal meeting place for the county board of commissioners. The register of deeds and board of elections have been located there, as well.
“So it has served a lot of different uses,” Boyer said.
Built in the early 1890s, the Romanesque Revival-style courthouse was designed by Alfred Eichberg, a Savannah, Ga., architect described as possibly the first Jewish architect to practice in the South.
A biographical dictionary called “Architects & Builders,” on file with N.C. State University Libraries, states Eichberg was commissioned to design the courthouse, which is said to be “one of the few of its type still standing in the state.”
Constructed for $58,000, the building was completed and opened to the public in 1893, according to the dictionary, which cites a report from the Wilmington Messenger newspaper that described the building as “universally admired” as “not only the most handsome but the best arranged building of the kind” in the state.
The building was restored in 1988, at a cost of $2.1 million, and renovations were done in 1999 to the courtroom, which Boyer said was originally two separate rooms—one for superior and one for district court. The rooms were combined to create the commissioners’ chambers—a renovation that cost approximately $550,000.
“The courthouse for generations has been a key architectural feature of the downtown Wilmington skyline,” Boyer said. “In renovating the former courtroom, which sits directly beneath the building’s five-story landmark clock tower, special consideration was given to restoring the original features of the room.”
Boyer said the building, which was once almost condemned, is the most requested county-owned property sought for film productions. Other locations Boyer has coordinated include Airlie Gardens, Hugh McRae Park and Smith Creek Park, among others.
Asked why “Sleepy Hollow” wanted to use the historic courthouse, Boyer said simply: “Looks.”
“I had one movie come in here and say: ‘Whoa, this is way too nice,’” Boyer said.
Tony Morin, a locations manager for “Sleepy Hollow,” said the courthouse stood out to the show’s production designer and director, who ultimately decide such things as locations.
“It had a ‘Sleepy Hollow’ feel to it. The inside still had an older feel to it— not necessarily Victorian, but colonial in a way,” Morin said, noting the town in upstate New York that dates back to the 18th century. While the building serves as a modern-day police station, Morin said the historic look helps set the show’s tone.
“One of the things that attracted the production designer to it was the steeple and the clock tower, how that kind of came out. That was definitely one of the big selling points of the actual building,” Morin said. “We were thinking maybe a stunt or something from there at some point, which ended up being a little bit too much for the episodes and timing.”
While the building is presented in the show as-is, some subtle changes were made here and there, including to the signage on the building’s doors. The New Hanover County logo that typically adorns the Princess Street entrance was replaced with signage that appeared similar—incorporating the clock tower image in the logo—but read instead: “Sleepy Hollow City Hall, Established 1640.”
Morin said the county was gracious in allowing the sign to be posted over the past several months. The sign was taken down late last week and replaced with the county’s as production moves on.
“We were lucky that the county was able to work with us for so long,” Morin said. “There’s some things that we have to ask, and it’s like: Can we leave this up and mis-allude people for four months that this is a Sleepy Hollow courthouse entrance?
“It kind of surprised me that they said yes to leaving it up there for so long, but they were super cool about it,” he said.
With the show’s recent announcement that it will return to Wilmington to film season two, Morin said it looks like those signs will adorn those doors again soon.
“I’m pretty positive and pretty sure it’s coming back to Wilmington. We haven’t really had a show in the past bit, aside from ‘Eastbound [and Down],’ that’s kind of proclaimed they’re coming back at the end of the season,” he said. “So it’s kind of nice to have them say they’re coming back already.”
Related story: Year in film, 2013: Big numbers for North Carolina, Wilmington
Jonathan Spiers is a reporter for Port City Daily. He can be reached at (910) 772-6313 or jonathan.s@portcitydaily.com. On Twitter: @jrspiers
