In 1750, East Greenwich along with Coventry, Warwick , and West Greenwich became a part of Kent County. East Greenwich was chosen as the county seat which is the town where all of the government for the rest of the county will have offices. In August of 1750, John Peirce donated his lot in town so that it could be the site for the Kent County Courthouse. The Rhode Island Assembly voted in 1803 that a new courthouse should be built. The original courthouse was sold and removed so that the new one could be built in 1805. The town pump used to be located in front of the building. During the 1800's the building was one of Rhode Island's five statehouses.