Worcester County Courthouse is a historic

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

and

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

building at 2 Main Street in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

in the Lincoln Square district and within the historic

Institutional District The Institutional District of Worcester, Massachusetts is an historic district encompassing a significant concentration of civic and municipal buildings north of the city's downtown area. It is centered on Lincoln Square and Wheaton Square, a ...

. It was individually 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 v ...

in 2021.

History

The oldest portion of the current building was constructed in 1845 by

Ammi B. Young Ammi Burnham Young (June 19, 1798 – March 14, 1874) was a 19th-century American architect whose commissions transitioned from the Greek Revival to the Neo-Renaissance styles. His design of the second Vermont State House brought him fame and su ...

on a parcel of land which had been the site of a courthouse since the 1730s.

Stephen C. Earle Stephen Carpenter Earle (January 4, 1839 – December 12, 1913) was an architect who designed a number of buildings in Massachusetts and Connecticut that were built in the late 19th century, with many in Worcester, Massachusetts. He trained in ...

constructed an 1878 addition onto the building and an 1899 addition was completed by

Andrews, Jaques & Rantoul Andrews, Jaques & Rantoul was an American architectural firm founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1883 and composed of architects Robert Day Andrews, Herbert Jaques and Augustus Neal Rantoul. The firm, with its successors, was in business contin ...

. The last major addition was in the 1950s. From 2019 to 2021, the building was extensively renovated and converted into 118 private residential housing units known as the Courthouse Lofts, and the building houses a historical display about Major

Marshall Taylor Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (November 26, 1878 – June 21, 1932) was an African-American professional cyclist. Even by modern cycling standards, Taylor could be considered the greatest American sprinter of all time. He was born and raised ...

, a prominent local African American bicyclist. The courthouse site also contains a statue of General

Charles Devens Charles Devens Jr. (April 4, 1820 – January 7, 1891) was an American lawyer, jurist and statesman. He also served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Early life and career Born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, Devens g ...

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known for his 1874 sculpture ''The Minute Man'' in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monume ...

and

Edward Clark Potter Edward Clark Potter (November 26, 1857 – June 21, 1923) was an American sculptor best known for his equestrian and animal statues. His most famous works are the marble lions, nicknamed ''Patience'' and ''Fortitude'', in front of the New Yor ...

, and the courthouse site was added to the

in 2021.

Notes

References

External links

Official Courthouse Lofts site
Buildings and structures completed in 1845 National Register of Historic Places in Worcester, Massachusetts {{WorcesterMA-NRHP-stub