Allegheny County Courthouse

In 1882 the original Allegheny County Courthouse, a Greek Revival structure located in down town Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, burned down and the Allegheny County Commissioners decided to hold a competition to design a replacement. The winner of the competition was Boston architect H.H. Richardson and construction of the buildings was begun by the Norcross Brothers, Richardson's construction firm of choice, in 1884. The jail portion of the complex was completed in 1886, the year of Richardson's death and the entire court house was finished in 1886 by Sheply, Rutan and Coolidge, Richardson's successor firm. The total cost of the project up to that time was over two and a quarter million dollars. 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Allegheny County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ... Pittsburgh skyline as viewed from Mount Washington Pittsburgh is a city in Western Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. ... Boston is a town and small port c. ... The Trinity Church in Boston is one of Richardsons most famous works. ... 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ...

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, [one side is open] and a tower rises five stories from there. As was usually the case with Richardson's buildings, the roof is steep with dormers placed at all the corners.

The prison is connected to the main building by the "Bridge of Sighs." The entire complex was built of large rusticated blocks of granite, with the entrance ways and windows toped with wide arches. This gives the building a very heavy, stable, dignified appearance, felt to be ideally suited to its function. The Bridge of Sighs in Venice at night The Bridge of Sighs or Ponte dei Sospiri is one of many bridges in Venice. ...

The Allegheny County Courthouse was considered to be the hight of modern design when it was built and buildings based on it can be found in many cities across America.

In 1974 the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1974 calendar). ... The National Register of Historic Places is the USAs official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects worthy of preservation. ...

References

• Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, Pilgrimage to H.H. Richardson, unpublished manuscript
• Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, H.H. Richardson:Complete Architectural Works, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984
• Van Rensselaer, Mariana Griswold, Henry Hobson Richardson and His Works, Dover Publications, NY, 1969, a reprint of the 1888 edition