The Louisville Metro Hall is the center of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

's government. It currently houses the Mayor's Office and the Jefferson County Clerk's Office for marriage licensing, delinquent tax filings, and the deeds room. The building was placed 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 1972. Construction began in 1837, and both the City of Louisville and Jefferson County governments starting using it in 1842.

Design

The architect,

Gideon Shryock Gideon Shryock (November 15, 1802 – June 19, 1880) was Kentucky's first professional architect in the Greek Revival Style. His name has frequently been misspelled as Gideon Shyrock. Biography Shryock was born in Lexington, Kentucky on Novembe ...

, had intended for the courthouse to have a six-column Doric portico, a

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 additional porticos on the wings. The building would be completed by metopes and plain

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

s as a full

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

, and engaged

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s regularly sequenced. Shryock resigned from the project in 1842. It was finally completed in 1860, with

Albert Fink Albert Fink (October 27, 1827 – April 3, 1897) was a German-born civil engineer who worked in the United States. He is best known for his railroad bridge designs, which helped revolutionize the use of iron for American railroad bridge construct ...

, a bridge engineer, and Charles Stancliff in charge. Fink reduced the number of columns for the Doric portico, and did not build the additional porticos and cupola. The '' Louisville Daily Journal'' said it was a "elephantine monstrosity".

History

Construction on the courthouse began in 1837, and both the City of Louisville and Jefferson County governments starting using it in 1842. Slave-trading was held by the courthouse in the 1840s, as were speeches calling for the abolition of slavery. When the courthouse was originally built, it was hoped that it would be the Statehouse for Kentucky. This hope was the goal of James Guthrie, but due to the capital staying in Frankfort, it became known as "Guthrie's folly". It did see some state government use during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, when it briefly housed the

Kentucky State Legislature The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in t ...

when Frankfort was acquired by Confederate forces. After a fire in 1905, the building was renovated by Brinton Davis. When he visited Louisville in 1948,

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

referred specifically to the Courthouse when he said, "Louisville's architecture represents the quality of the old South; we should not build this type of building anymore but we should keep those we have left." This was after efforts in the 1940s to demolish it for urban renewal. The building was listed on the

in 1972. Improvements to the building includes placing a statue of

Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state, al ...

, designed by Joel T. Hart, on the main floors, and extensive renovations in the 1980s. The

Jefferson County Courthouse Annex The Jefferson County Courthouse Annex in Louisville, Kentucky was designed by Kenneth McDonald Sr. and built in 1900. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United S ...

at 517 Court Pl. was listed on the National Register in 1980. The Louisville Metro Hall, was formerly named the Jefferson County Courthouse or Louisville Courthouse. Since the merger of the former City of Louisville with Jefferson County, the building was renamed Louisville Metro Hall and now primarily houses the offices of the

Mayor of Louisville Metro The history of Louisville, Kentucky, United States, as a city is considered to have started on February 13, 1828, the date of the first city charter. From the time of its first organization as a village, on February 7, 1781, until its incorporati ...

. In addition, the offices of the Jefferson County Clerk, the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the Kentucky Supreme Court Justice for the Louisville district are located in this building.

Statues

There are two prominently-sited statues outside the Courthouse. In front of the building is a statue of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

Moses Jacob Ezekiel Moses Jacob Ezekiel, also known as Moses "Ritter von" Ezekiel (October 28, 1844 – March 27, 1917), was an American sculptor who lived and worked in Rome, Italy, Rome for the majority of his career. Ezekiel was "the first American-born Jewis ...

, given to the city in 1901. The second, on the corner of Sixth and Jefferson and across from the

Louisville City Hall Louisville City Hall is a registered historic building in Louisville, Kentucky, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Completed in 1873 to house the Louisville city government, the structure is located at 601 West Jefferson S ...

, is a statue of

King Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...

. It was presented as a gift to Louisville from Louisville's

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, on July 17, 1967. At the presentation, a crowd of 300 dignitaries, both French and American, saw Montpellier's Mayor

François Delmas François Delmas (24 August 1913 – 3 March 2002) was a French politician. He was mayor of Montpellier from 1959 to 1977 and briefly a member of the National Assembly. He was also Secretary of State for the Environment in Raymond Barre Raym ...

officially present it to Louisville Mayor

Kenneth Schmied Kenneth Albert Schmied (July 11, 1911 – April 5, 1973), a Republican, served as Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1965 until 1969. He was the last Republican to have held the office. The 1969 elections saw Democrat Frank W. Burke win the may ...

. The statue of King Louis XVI was sculpted in 1829 by Achille-Joseph Valois for the king's surviving daughter, Marie-Thérèse, queen dowager of France, and made its public debut in Montpellier. However, a year later during the Second French Revolution, it was moved to a military base for protection, then at

Montpellier University The University of Montpellier (french: Université de Montpellier) is a public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the wor ...

, and finally in the municipal archives' storage basement. In 1899, the statue was found to have deteriorated with a damaged arm, but remained in storage. It was decided in 1966 to give the statue to Louisville, making a seven-month journey between Montpellier and Louisville. The Carrara marble statue weighs nine tons, and is high. The statue's right hand was destroyed in May 2020 during protests over the death of

Breonna Taylor Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment on March 13, 2020, when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing op ...

Gallery

File:Louis XVI statue JCC.jpg, Another view of King Louis XVI statue File:Louis XVI JCC pedestal.jpg, Pedestal of Louis XVI statue File:Thomas Jefferson JCC statue.jpg, Thomas Jefferson statue

Notes

References

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External links

List of Metro government facilities
{{Registered Historic Places 1842 establishments in Kentucky 19th-century buildings and structures in Louisville, Kentucky County courthouses in Kentucky Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Government buildings completed in 1842 Government of Louisville, Kentucky Greek Revival architecture in Kentucky History of Louisville, Kentucky Local landmarks in Louisville, Kentucky National Register of Historic Places in Louisville, Kentucky Statues of Thomas Jefferson