Lots with street frontage facing the courthouse initially sold for prices 40 times higher than land near the edge of the town grid.

[3] This design, known as the "Shelbyville square" or "Shelbyville plan", was the prototype for numerous other public squares created throughout the 19th century in towns in southern Middle Tennessee, other parts of the southeastern United States, the American Midwest, and Texas.

[5][6] The third courthouse building was completed in 1833 and stood until 1863, when it was burned down (apparently accidentally) by Confederate Army forces occupying Shelbyville.

[8] Italianate and Romanesque architectural styles predominate among the historic commercial buildings facing the streets around the square.

The Gunter Building, built in 1927 on the west side of the square, is designed in the Art Deco style.