This list includes
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 ...
buildings in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, used by municipal,
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
, state and
federal
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
s, from the 17th century through the present.
Built in the 17th and 18th centuries
*
First Town-House, Boston
The First Town-House in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony was located on the site of the Old State House and served as Boston's first purpose-built town hall and colonial government seat.
Robert Keayne left £300 in his will for the constructio ...
, built 1658. "The first Boston town house, constructed of wood on the site of the market-place, defined the town's political, social, and economic center by housing the colonial government, law courts, markets, and militia musters."
*
State House, built 1713, on the site of the former Town-House This building still exists as the "Old State House," State Street
* Court house, built 1768-69,
Queen Street. "... the Justices of the Court of Sessions for the County of Suffolk, have voted to build an elegant new Court House in Queen Street ..." "The elegant new Court-House in Queen-Street, Boston, being now finish'd ..." "Municipal Court continued to be held ... until June 20, 1822." By 1807 some disliked its features: "The County Court-House in Court street is by no means an ornament to the town; it is small, inconvenient, and exposed to the noise of a very busy street. ... In the court-house are kept the probate-office and registry of deeds for the county." Alternately, historian Caleb Snow describes it in 1828 more favorably: "The Old Court House on the south side of Court-street, is a handsome building of brick, three stories high, and has on the roof an octagon cupola. On the lower floor are the offices of the United States District Marshall, and several private offices. In the second story, the floor of which is supported by pillars of the Tuscan order, are held the Circuit and District Courts of the U.S. for the Massachusetts District, and the office of the District Clerk. In the third story are convenient rooms for jurors, etc. This building, before the erection of the New Court House
n 1810... was used by all the courts of law held in the county."
Image:First Town House1.jpg, Conjectural drawing of First Town-House, King St., 17th century
Image:1728 DockSq Boston byWBurgis BPL10063.png, Detail of 1728 map of Boston, showing location of State House (letter "a" on map)
Image:1751 CourtHouse Boston byNathanielHurd.png, Court House, Boston, built 1713 (engraving 1751 by Nathaniel Hurd; courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Built in the 19th century
* Suffolk County Courthouse, also called Johnson Hall; built 1810 by
Charles Bulfinch
Charles Bulfinch (August 8, 1763 – April 15, 1844) was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first American-born professional architect to practice.Baltzell, Edward Digby. ''Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia''. Tra ...
, School Street, Boston. Functioned as county court (1810-1841) and U.S. court (1810-1836). "Remodeled for use as a city hall by
Bryant">ridley J.F.Bryant, 1840-1841. Demolished 1863."
The Stone Court-House in Court-Square, to which for distinction's sake we have given the name of Johnson Hall ... (with reference to the memory of lsaac Johnson esq. ... a chief patron of the first settlers of Boston ...) was built in 1810. It is described as consisting of an octagon centre, 55 ft. wide, with two wings, 26 by 40 feet, connected by the entrance and passages to the centre. The length of the whole building is 140 ft. The lower story of the centre is improved by the Register of Deeds, and Clerk of the C.C.P. -— the second story by the County Courts, and the upper by the Common Council of the city. The Mayor and Aldermen's room is in the upper story of the western wing; under that are the offices of the Auditor and City Marshal, and on the lower floor the Probate Office. In the eastern wing are the offices of the Clerk of the S.J. Court, rooms for the judges and for the juries, and one occupied by the Law Library.
* Municipal Court House, built 1822, Leverett Street
* Court house, built 1836, Court Square. Housed municipal court beginning in 1837.
The first floor contains rooms for the Police Court and Justices Court, the United States Marshal's room, and the offices of the clerks of the Supreme Court, Court of Common Pleas, and Police Court. The second story contains the rooms of the United States and the Supreme Judicial Courts, as also the Law Library, the rooms for the judges of the United States and Supreme Courts, and the clerk's office of the United States Court. The upper or third story includes the Common Pleas and Municipal Court rooms and the rooms of the judges of those courts, the jury rooms of the several courts, the clerk's office and the witness rooms of the municipal court, and the grand jury room.
* U.S. Court House,
Bowdoin Square
Bowdoin Street in Boston, Massachusetts extends from the top of Beacon Street, down Beacon Hill to Cambridge Street, near the West End. It was originally called "Middlecott Street" as early as the 1750s. In 1805 it was renamed after the Governor ...
; used c. 1858.
* Masonic Temple, corner Tremont Street and Temple Place; used as U.S. federal court, 1858-1885. Built 1832. "The building was sold to the U.S. government for $105,000 for use as a federal courthouse in 1858." "The federal government in 1885 sold the building at acution." In 1886 R.H. Stearns & Co. moved into the "remodeled building. ...
tcontinued as their place of business until 1908, when it was completely torn down."
* U.S. Post Office and Subtreasury, built 1885. Alfred B. Mullett, supervising architect. "The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts met here ...
883- 1929 the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts met here from 1883, prior to completion, until that court was abolished in 1912. Razed in 1929."
*
John Adams Courthouse
The Suffolk County Courthouse, now formally the John Adams Courthouse, is a historic courthouse building in Pemberton Square in Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the state's highest court) and the M ...
, built 1893,
Pemberton Square. Designed by
George Albert Clough
George Albert Clough (May 27, 1843 – December 30, 1910) was an architect working in Boston in the late 19th-century. He designed the Suffolk County Courthouse in Pemberton Square, and numerous other buildings in the city and around New Engl ...
. Functioned as Suffolk County Courthouse c. 1893. Currently houses the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court
Image:1909 courthouse CourtSq Boston byJamesMurray LC.jpg, Court House, Court Square; built 1836 (photo 1909)
Image:BowdoinSquare BalPict 1855 1856.JPG, U.S. Courthouse, Bowdoin Square, c. 1850s
Image:Post office, Boston, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views 2.jpg, Post Office; built 1885, demolished 1929
Image:2010 AdamsCourthouse Boston 4765611709.jpg, Adams Courthouse; built 1893, Pemberton Square (photo 2010)
Built in the 20th century
* John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse, built 1933, also known as the John W. McCormack Federal Building, 5
Post Office Square, Boston. Designed by
Cram & Ferguson
Ralph Adams Cram (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and Church (building), ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival style. Cram and ...
. Currently houses the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
* Suffolk County Courthouse, built 1937, Pemberton Square, Boston. Currently houses the Suffolk County Superior Court for Criminal Business
*
John F. Kennedy Federal Building
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Federal Building is a United States federal government office building located in the Government Center area of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to City Hall Plaza and diagonally across from Boston City Hall. An exampl ...
, built 1966. Currently houses the U.S. Immigration Court
* Moakley courthouse, built 1999; also called the
John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse
The John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse is a federal courthouse for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, located on Fan Pier on the Boston, Massa ...
, One Courthouse Way, Boston. Designed by
TRO Jung Brannen. Houses the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
*
Edward W. Brooke Courthouse, built 1999; 24
New Chardon Street, Boston. Designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects, Inc. Houses the "Boston Juvenile Court, Boston Housing Court, Land Court, Suffolk Probate and Family Court, and the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds."
AIA Guide
/ref>
Image:Boston Post Office and Courthouse.jpg, McCormack Post Office & Courthouse, built 1933, Post Office Square
File:Suffolk County Courthouse Boston.jpg, Suffolk County Courthouse, built 1937, Pemberton Square
Image:2006 JFKennedy FederalBuilding Boston byHighsmith LC 01572v.jpg, Kennedy building, Government Center; built 1966
Image:2008 MoakleyCourthouse Boston 2869027828.jpg, Moakley Courthouse, built 1999, on Boston Harbor
File:Brooke Courthouse Boston P1000472.JPG, Brooke courthouse, New Chardon St.; built 1999
References
Further reading
* William Thomas Davis. Bench and bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Volume 1
Boston History Company, 1895.
External links
{{commons category, Courthouses in Boston, Massachusetts
* https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004672675/ View of the Center Plaza Complex and Suffolk County Courthouse, Boston, Massachusetts. Photo by Nicholas Nixon, 1975
*
Courthouses
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-sp ...
courthouses
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-sp ...
courthouses
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-sp ...
History of Boston