The Allegheny County Courthouse in

Downtown Pittsburgh Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River an ...

, is part of a complex (along with the old Allegheny County Jail) designed by H. H. Richardson. The buildings are considered among the finest examples of the

Romanesque Revival style Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a Architectural style, style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Reviv ...

for which Richardson is well known. The complex is bordered by wide thoroughfares named for city founders James Ross (Ross Street), John Forbes ( Forbes Avenue) and James Grant ( Grant Street). The current building, completed in 1888, was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1976. Richardson later referred to it as his "great achievement".

Early structures

Pittsburgh's original courthouse, first occupied in 1794, was a wooden structure located on one side of

Market Square A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are tradit ...

. The

Pennsylvania Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as the "Supreme Court" of Pennsylvania were made offici ...

and from December 7, 1818, until 1841 the Western District of Pennsylvania also held court sessions at Market Square. Land for a new courthouse was purchased in April 1834. This was a tract of land on the corner of Forbes Avenue and Grant Street, on Grant's Hill. Construction took place between 1836 and 1840. This court house was built with polished gray sandstone, quarried at Coal Hill (present-day Mount Washington), opposite Water Street along the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...

. The building was designed by

John Chislett John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

. The

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

design included a domed cupola housing a rotunda in diameter and high. The building was completed in 1841. The building's second floor again served as the headquarters for both the Commonwealth Supreme Court Pittsburgh region and the Federal Western District, serving the latter until a new U.S. Customs House/Post Office opened on Fifth and Smithfield in 1853. Due to corrosion caused by coal smoke, the building deteriorated: the dressed surface of the facade dropped off, some of the cornices near the roof began to fall, and the building had a scaly appearance. On May 7, 1882, a fire broke out and destroyed the building. Subsequently, it was demolished. The third, and present, courthouse was erected on the same spot.

Current structure

Following the destruction of the second courthouse, Allegheny County Commissioners decided to hold a competition to design a replacement. The winner of the competition was

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

architect

Henry Hobson Richardson Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA (September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one ...

and construction of the buildings was begun by the Norcross Brothers, Richardson's construction firm of choice, in 1884. The cornerstone for the building was laid on October 13, 1884. The design of the main building, which Richardson considered to be his finest, was innovative in that the building is built around an interior courtyard, thus allowing natural light and fresh air to reach most of the building. The courtyard is surrounded by four stories in three sides. A tower rises five stories from the courtyard's open side. As was usually the case with Richardson's buildings, the roof is steep with dormers placed at all the corners. The building's roof is covered with Ludowici clay tiles. A prison is connected to the courthouse via the "Bridge of Sighs". The design was based on the

Bridge of Sighs The Bridge of Sighs (Italian: ''Ponte dei Sospiri'', ) is a bridge in Venice, Italy. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Prison (''Prigioni Nuove'') t ...

in Venice. The entire complex was built of large rusticated blocks of granite, with the entrance ways and windows topped with wide arches. This gives the building a heavy, stable and dignified appearance. In the 1900s the street level in front of the building was lowered as part of a general re-grading of Pittsburgh. Richardson had anticipated this and courses of finished masonry had been buried underground, now to be revealed. This left the ceremonial entrance a full story above the street. A grand stairway was built, but removed during street widening in the 1930s- the low arched doorways were extended downwards to street level, with the result that the visitor is not greeted by the grand entrance hall Richardson planned, but by the low corridors which were once the basement. Muralist Vincent Nesbert completed five murals for the building on its first floor in 1937: "Industry", "Justice", "Peace", "Fort Duquesne" and "The Battle of Grant's Hill." In 1973, the building was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. In 1976, it was designated a

. A new jail was built by Allegheny County in 1995 near the Allegheny River. The old jail underwent a transformation to become the Family Division of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. The conversion, which cost approximately $25 million and took two years to complete, aimed to retain key elements of the jail like the rotunda, the cell blocks, and the warden's office.O’Toole, P. (2017, Spring). The Old Jail: A New Life for a Richardson Masterpiece. ''Pittsburgh Quarterly Magazine''. Retrieved July 20, 2023, from /ref> A part of the old cell block is now home to the Old Allegheny County Jail Museum, exhibiting jail history and artifacts. The restoration work involved asbestos removal, new plumbing and electrical systems installation, air conditioning addition, and new offices and courtrooms creation. It also encompassed the preservation of the historic elements like the stone facade, the ironwork, and the stained glass windows. The conversion project earned multiple awards for adaptive reuse and historic preservation, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation Honor Award in 2002 and the American Institute of Architects Pittsburgh Chapter Award in 2001.

Legacy and impact

The design of the Allegheny County Courthouse has influenced buildings in many cities across North America, such as

Toronto City Hall The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in ...

Minneapolis City Hall Minneapolis City Hall and Hennepin County Courthouse (also known as the Municipal Building), designed by Long and Kees in 1888, is the main building used by the city government of Minneapolis, as well as by Hennepin County, in the U.S. state of ...

, the Milwaukee Federal Building, Altgeld Hall on the campus of the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

and James W. McLaughlin's Wayne County Courthouse in

Richmond, Indiana Richmond () is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana, United States. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,720. It is the principal c ...

. In 2007, the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

asked Harris Interactive to survey 2,000 people, who were shown 247 photographs of buildings and other structures in different categories chosen by 2,500 architects. The Allegheny County Courthouse was ranked 35th overall on the list and above every other courthouse in the nation except the

United States Supreme Court Building The Supreme Court Building houses the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. The building serves as the official workplace of the Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice o ...

In popular culture

Several big-budget films have portrayed the Courthouse. ''

Striking Distance ''Striking Distance'' is a 1993 American action thriller film starring Bruce Willis as Pittsburgh Police homicide detective Thomas Hardy. The film co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Farina, and Tom Sizemore. It was directed by Rowdy He ...

'' and '' Hoffa'' primarily used interior shots, while '' Desperate Measures'' and ''

The Next Three Days ''The Next Three Days'' is a 2010 American crime thriller film written and directed by Paul Haggis, starring Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks. A remake of the 2008 French film ''Pour elle'' ('' Anything for Her'') by Fred Cavayé, the plot foll ...

'' used both interior and exterior shots, with '' Boys on the Side'' and ''

Mrs. Soffel ''Mrs. Soffel'' is a 1984 American drama film directed by Gillian Armstrong, starring Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson and based on the story of condemned brothers Jack and Ed Biddle, who escaped prison with the aid of Kate Soffel, the warden's wife. ...

'' featuring the Ross Street side of the complex and the "Bridge of Sighs".

Gallery

File:AlleghenyCountyCourthouseCourtyard.jpg, Courthouse Courtyard File:AlleghenyCountyCourthouseFountain.jpg, Fountain in the Courtyard File:RichardsonAlleghanyCH4.jpg, Interior courtyard File:Allegheny County Courthouse skyway over Ross St in Pittsburgh.jpg, Bridge of Sighs File:FormerAlleghenyCountyJail.jpg, The former Allegheny County Jail

References

External links

Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail Architectural Records, 1883-1948, AIS.1980.20
''Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh''.
Smoke Control Lantern Slide Collection, University of Pittsburgh Archives Service Center, AIS.1978.22, Digital Research Library
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