The Wayne County Building is a monumental government structure located at 600 Randolph Street in Downtown

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. It formerly contained the Wayne County administrative offices – now located in the

Guardian Building The Guardian Building is a landmark skyscraper in the United States, located at 500 Griswold Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, within the Financial District. The Guardian is a class-A office building owned by Wayne County, Michigan and ser ...

at 500 Griswold Street – and its courthouse. As Wayne County Courthouse, it was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1975. When it was completed in 1902, it was regarded as "one of the most sumptuous buildings in Michigan". (connection is slow to display)

Architecture

The building was designed by Detroit architects John and Arthur Scott. P. 100. Constructed from 1897 to 1902, it may be one of the nation's finest surviving examples of Roman Baroque Revival architecture, with a blend of Beaux-Arts and some elements of the Neoclassical style. The building stands 5 floors and was built using copper,

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

, and

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

. The exterior is profusely ornamented with sculpture; the interior is finished in a variety of woods,

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

s, and

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s. P. 17. Built with buff Berea sandstone, the façade features a rusticated basement story and a balustrade between the third and fourth stories. At the main entrance, a broad flight of stairs leads up to a two-story Corinthian column portico. The structure boasts a tall, four-tiered, hipped roof central tower balanced by end

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

s. The courthouse tower was originally 227' 8½" tall; the copper dome and spire were redone in the 1960s, bringing its height to 247 feet. The exterior architectural sculpture, including the

Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his mil ...

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

, was executed by Detroit sculptor Edward Wagner. The other sculptures, two

quadriga A () is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in Classical Antiquity and the Roman Empire until the Late Middle Ages. The word derives from the Latin contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke. The four- ...

s, ''Victory'' and ''Progress'' and four figures on the tower, ''Law'', ''Commerce'', ''Agriculture'', and ''Mechanics'', were sculpted by New York sculptor J. Massey Rhind, and made by

Salem, Ohio Salem is the largest city in Columbiana County, Ohio, with a small district in southern Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 11,915. It is the principal city of the Salem micropolitan area in Northeast Ohio. It is 18 ...

resident William H. Mullins in 1903. On the other end of

Campus Martius The Campus Martius (Latin for the "Field of Mars", Italian ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which cove ...

was the old Detroit City Hall, and they adorned the landscape as 'bookends'. A renovation was carried out in 1987 by Quinn Evans Architects and Smith, Hinchman & Grylls Associates.

Recent news

On July 18, 2007, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano announced Wayne County had entered into an agreement to purchase the

to relocate its offices from the Wayne County Building. This purchase would commence when the county's lease on their current home expires in 2008 and end a difficult tenant-landlord relationship between the owners and the County. The ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'' print edition on July 21, 2007, carried a front-page article about the current landlord offering a reduced rate for the county to remain.''Detroit Free Press''
"Landlord offers to drop county's rent if it stays"
(Accessed July 21, 2007). In July 2014, the Wayne County Commission approved the sale of the building along with a county-owned parking lot at 400 E. Fort Street to a New York investment group for $13.4 million. The building is expected to be renovated for single tenant occupancy.

Gallery

File:Downtown, Detroit, MI, USA - panoramio (2).jpg, Wayne County Building in 2014 Image:Detroit MI 2015.jpg, At night, 2015 Image:JMRDetroit1.jpg, ''Victory and Progress''
by J. Massey Rhind Image:JMRWayneCoBldg2.jpg, by J. Massey Rhind Image:JMRWayneCoBldg3.jpg, by J. Massey Rhind Image:JMRDetroit4.jpg, by J. Massey Rhind Image:JMRWayneCoBldg1.jpg, by J. Massey Rhind Image:EWagnerAWayne1.jpg,

Pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

by Edward Wagner Image:WayneCountyspire.jpg, Spire Image:ComericaTowerdetroit3.jpg, One Detroit Center has similar architectural accents Image:WCbldg1.jpg, From Brush and Congress streets Image:DetroitDownBrushSt.JPG, Renaissance Center with the Wayne County Building Image:Wayne County Building 1899.jpg, Wayne County Building in 1899 Image:Wayne County Building (NBY 6989).jpg, Wayne County Building, circa 1900s

References

External links

Wayne County Courthouse
* *
Historic images
from Detroit Public Library {{National Register of Historic Places listings in Wayne County, Michigan Buildings and structures in Detroit County government buildings in Michigan Downtown Detroit Government buildings completed in 1902 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites in Wayne County, Michigan National Historic Landmarks in Metro Detroit National Register of Historic Places in Detroit 1902 establishments in Michigan 1902 sculptures Outdoor sculptures in Michigan Baroque Revival architecture in the United States Beaux-Arts architecture in Michigan Neoclassical architecture in Michigan County courthouses in Michigan

Architecture

Recent news

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links