Cortland County Courthouse is a historic

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

located at Cortland in

Cortland County, New York Cortland County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population of Cortland County was 46,809. The county seat is Cortland. The county is named after Pierre Van Cortlandt, president of the convention a ...

. It was built in 1924 and is a three-story building in the shape of a

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

built of Indiana

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. It is located within a three-acre park. It features a distinctive

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

and corresponding rotunda, which rests on an octagonal base, above which are 24

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

columns. It was designed by

James Riely Gordon James Riely Gordon (August 2, 1863 – March 16, 1937) was an architect who practiced in San Antonio until 1902 and then in New York City, where he gained national recognition. J. Riely Gordon is best known for his landmark county courthouses, ...

in the Beaux Arts style. ''See also:'' 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 v ...

in 1974.

Description

In the shape of a

, the courthouse has a 3-bay wide front on the north facade. Atop the doorway including the second and third stories is a

veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

with

Doric columns The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

— single columns at each end and 2 interior pairs of columns. Also, engaged columns intrude the window treatment of the second and third floors on the east and west elevations. The building is covered with a low-slung

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

. In the year of 1969, asphalt shingles superseded the original slate. The roof cornice’s top consists of a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

that is of

Indiana limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...

also. The exceptional architectural characteristic of this establishment is its

, which lies on a balustraded octagonal base atop which are 24 Corinthian columns. Afterwards, the

modillions A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which it helps to support. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally translat ...

of the structure’s cornice are repeated in proper scale. There is a 4-inch concrete-made dome over the top of the order. The dome is overlaid with copper and 16-inch steel-arc beams meeting at a circular opening in the top. The statue of justice stands on the Ionic-column finial above the drum. The primary attraction of the interior is the dome. There is a rotunda towering the

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

within the structure. The second and third floors’ columned verandas ignore the rotunda. Inside of the dome contains a coffered ceiling of plaster with a stained glass skylight covering the central opening. Marble wainscoting is set up throughout the courthouse. A one-story circular limestone war monument which is constructed of 8 columns and a roof is directly in front of the central gateway on the north facade.

Significance

The Cortland County Courthouse is the third courthouse of the county. Famous architect James Riley Gordon designed the courthouse. It is considered significant by the locals because it is a public architecture that is influenced by the design of the

National Capital A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the g ...

. The position of the Cortland County Courthouse, the plot of the old Normal School, was mainly based on the locations of its 2 predecessors. All 3 buildings were constructed on or adjoining West Court Street, within around 2 and one-half blocks of each other, and close to the geographic center of Cortland city. The notable characteristic of the courthouse is its cupola and corresponding interior rotunda. As Cortland County Courthouse is the imitation of the U.S. Capitol, it mirrors both the grandeur in public buildings of the period and the fancy of copying a national model on the local level. ''See also:''

References

External links

Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) County courthouses in New York (state) Government buildings completed in 1924 Buildings and structures in Cortland County, New York James Riely Gordon buildings National Register of Historic Places in Cortland County, New York {{CortlandCountyNY-NRHP-stub