The Miami-Dade County Courthouse, formerly known as the Dade 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 ...
and skyscraper located at 73 West Flagler Street in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. Constructed over four years (1925–28), it was added to the
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
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 ...
on January 4, 1989.
[ ] The building is 361 feet tall with 28 floors. When it was built, it was the tallest building in both the city of Miami and state of Florida.
It is still in use as the main civil courthouse of
Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...
.
History
When county government was established following the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, public records were so sparse they could be carried in a
carpetbag
A carpet bag is a top-opening travelling bag made of carpet, commonly from an oriental rug. It was a popular form of luggage in the United States and Europe in the 19th century, featuring simple handles and only an upper frame, which serve ...
and most probably were. Therefore, the courthouse was wherever the county's chief office holder decided to do business.
In 1890, Dade County's first courthouse stood in the town of
Juno, Florida some north of
West Palm Beach
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
. At that time, Dade County covered more territory than it does today, stretching from
Bahia Honda Key
Bahia Honda (meaning ''deep bay'', in Spanish, locally pronounced: BAY-ah HON-da , also pronounced : Bah-EE-ah OWN-dah ) is an island in the lower Florida Keys.
U.S. 1 (the Overseas Highway) crosses the key at approximately mile markers 36-38 ...
, in the middle Keys, up to the
St. Lucie River
The St. Lucie River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 18, 2011 estuary linked to a coastal river system in St. Lucie and Martin counties in the Florida, United ...
, near present-day
Port St. Lucie
Port St. Lucie is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. It is the most populous municipality in the county with a population of 204,851 at the 2020 census. It is located southeast of Orlando and north of Miami. The Port St. Lu ...
.
Juno was chosen as the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
because of its strategic location at the southern terminus of the Jupiter-Juno railroad. Juno also held the northern terminus of the boat and connecting stagecoach line to Miami. The courthouse remained in Juno (now no longer in existence) until 1899, when it was moved to Miami down the inland waterway on a barge and was placed on the banks of the
Miami River, east of the old Miami Avenue bridge.
The building was a two-story wooden-frame construction, housing offices and jail cells on the ground floor and a courtroom on the second floor. It has a Neoclassical design, in 1904 this building was replaced by a new courthouse building situated on
Flagler Street
Flagler Street is a main east–west road in Miami. Flagler Street is the latitudinal baseline that divides all the streets on the Miami-Dade County grid plan as north or south streets (the east-west division is along Miami Avenue). Flagle ...
(then known as Twelfth Street). It was a magnificent building constructed of limestone, having an elegant red-domed top, at the cost of $47,000. It was anticipated that this courthouse would serve the city for at least 50 years; however, no one was prepared for the rapid growth Miami experienced during this period, and by 1924, only twenty years later, there was serious talk of the need for a larger courthouse.
In the early 1920s, architect
A. Ten Eyck Brown entered a design competition for
Atlanta City Hall
Atlanta City Hall is the headquarters of the City of Atlanta government. It was constructed in 1930, and is located in Downtown Atlanta. It is a high-rise office tower very similar to dozens of other city halls built in the United States durin ...
, which was rejected. He then made the plans available to Dade County, and City and County officials readily approved them. It was decided by the officials to build the new courthouse at the same location as the existing one on Flagler Street. Construction began in 1925, with workers erecting the new building around the existing structure, which was then dismantled. Community leaders and citizens alike voiced excitement over the new 28-story skyscraper that would soon dominate the skyline.
Unexpectedly, construction was halted when the building reached ten stories. It was discovered that the high-rise was sinking into the spongy ground. Engineers consulted with an architect from
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
, whom had encountered a similar problem while building the
Palacio de Bellas Artes
The Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City. It has hosted notable events in music, dance, theatre, opera and literature in Mexico and has held important exhibitions of painting, sculpture and p ...
opera house. The consultant determined that the foundation pilings were not set deep enough. To correct the problem, cement supports were poured, which take up much of the space in the building's basement file room even to this day.
The courthouse was finally completed in 1928 at the cost of $4 million (
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
2013 $54.5 million). Initially, it served as the Dade County Courthouse and Jail, and the Miami City Hall. The jail occupied the top nine floors as it was thought that prisoners would not risk escaping from such a height, either directly down or through multiple guarded staircases and elevators. This theory was disproven in 1934, when a 21st floor prisoner picked the lock of his jail cell window and used a fire hose to lower himself to freedom. In the years following, more than 70 prisoners escaped from what was thought to be a secure and escape-proof jail.
Present day
For many years, the courthouse, at an elevation of 360 feet, was reputed to be the tallest building south of
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. It was the county's first high-rise and is in 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 ...
. Efforts to refurbish this magnificent structure and restore it to its original grandeur have been underway since 1981 by Architect James W. Piersol, AIA of M.C Harry Associates Architects of Miami. The restoration and renovations initially stabilized the terra cotta facade, and installed new life safety systems. In 1982, the idea of restoring the lobby to its original distinction was the passion of both Architect James Piersol and engineer Don Youatt, of the Miami-Dade Planning and Development Department. With a little less than half of the funding necessary for the lobby restoration project in hand ($300,000 grant approved by the Legislature in 1996), the Dade County Bar Association acted as the fund-raising umbrella and initiate a drive to raise the remainder needed from lawyers and the general public. A few years later, the same team restored Courtroom 6-1, which had been the site of many infamous trials over the years.
Today, the courthouse provides offices, chambers, and courtrooms for the clerks and judiciary assigned to both the Circuit and County Civil Court.
On July 9, 2021, the courthouse was closed down after an engineer reported "safety concerns with various floors", and staff members were directed to work remotely. The inspection report was made in the wake of
the deadly collapse of a condominium building in nearby
Surfside. In the years prior to the closure, the structural safety of the courthouse building had been the center of complaints by resident judges and lawyers, even as county administrators consistently declared it safe following various "spot repairs". At the time of the closure, Miami-Dade County was planning the construction of a replacement building and the selling of the original courthouse.
Gallery
File:Southwest side of the Dade County Courthouse in March 2011.jpg, Southwest view of the Miami-Dade courthouse in 2011
File:Dade County Courthouse - DPalma01.jpg, Seen from the east
References
External links
Dade County listings Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
a
Dade County Courthouses Miami History Channel
* Florida's Historic Courthouses by Hampton Dunn (ISBN)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dade County Courthouse 2
Government buildings completed in 1928
County courthouses in Florida
National Register of Historic Places in Miami
Skyscraper office buildings in Miami
A. Ten Eyck Brown buildings
1928 establishments in Florida