In 1841

In 1841, Allegheny County's second courthouse was erected on Grant's Hill, replacing the first courthouse at Market Square with a Greek Revival building designed by John Chislett, an English-born architect who became one of Pittsburgh's leading professionals. Chislett's courthouse burned in 1882. In 1883, after first declining an invitation to design the new Allegheny County Buildings, Henry Hobson Richardson accepted after George B. Post withdrew from the competition, and his design was chosen on January 31, 1884. Construction began that year, with the jail completed in 1886 and the courthouse in 1888. The courthouse plan centered on a courtyard meant to bring natural light to courtrooms and offices, with corner stairways and a Grand Staircase in the tower base giving access to the upper floors, though Richardson's intended brick-paved courtyard with a horse fountain was instead paved in asphalt until a park and fountain were created there in 1976 with support from the Sarah Scaife Foundation and Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. Courtroom suites featured a 27-foot-high courtroom, two-story judge's chambers, jury rooms above, natural light from both street and courtyard windows, brass chandeliers, brick-arched ceilings supported by an iron girder, and light oak woodwork and furnishings. Built for about $2,400,000, the courthouse and jail used granite from Massachusetts, sandstone from Beaver, room tile from Akron, iron and glass from Allegheny County, Boston furniture, and work by contractors and stone carvers brought with the architect. The courthouse combined Romanesque ornament with Victorian interpretation and botanical forms influenced by English naturalism, while the jail was a simpler granite structure entered from Ross Street through an eight-sided tower and laid out as a rotunda with three cellblocks forming a T. The jail was first occupied in September 1886 and enlarged between 1904 and 1908 under Frederick J. Osterling, whose addition harmonized with the older building. Its Bridge of Sighs was modeled on the 16th-century bridge connecting the Doge's Palace and prison in Venice. The courthouse tower, designed for ventilation, circulation, and record storage, rose 325 feet and dominated the skyline for 14 years. Later street changes altered the courthouse entrance: lowering Grant Street in 1912-13 turned the terrace into the landing of a grand staircase above new ground-floor entrances, and widening the street between 1926 and 1929 removed the staircase so visitors entered at ground level and climbed an interior stairway to the lobby.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · United States