The New Haven County Courthouse is located at 121 Elm Street in the Downtown section of

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. The building was built in 1917 and was added to 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 ...

on May 16, 2003. It is one of the city's finest examples of Beaux Arts architecture, with a particularly elaborate central

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

, and was the site of ''

Griswold v. Connecticut ''Griswold v. Connecticut'', 381 U.S. 479 (1965), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects the liberty of married couples to buy and use contraceptives withou ...

'', a historic court case involving women's right to birth control.

Description and history

The New Haven County Courthouse is located in downtown New Haven, facing the

New Haven Green The New Haven Green is a privately owned park and recreation area located in the downtown district of the city of New Haven, Connecticut. It comprises the central square of the nine-square settlement plan of the original Puritan colonists in New ...

from the northwest corner of Elm and Church Streets, It is a three-story stone structure, finished in white Vermont marble. Its principal mass is basically rectangular, with projecting sections of differing depths on each side. The two street-facing projections house its main entrances, which are fronted by Ionic porticos. A central section rises a full extra story to provide additional height to the central atrium. The interior is finished in richly ornamented finishes of marble, mahogany, brass, and plaster. Some doors have heavy brass knobs bearing the county seal. and The courthouse was designed by William H. Allen and Richard Williams. Their

Beaux Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporat ...

design won a design competition over submissions from several well-known architects, and contributed to the city's adoption of the City Beautiful movement to improve its public spaces and facilities. The building was under threat of demolition in 1956. The building's exterior underwent a $10.5 million renovation project, with work beginning in January 2013.Mary E. O'Leary
New Haven Superior Courthouse once again a jewel on the Green
''New Haven Register'' (April 6, 2015). Significant court cases tried at the courthouse include ''

'', which ensured that married women could have access to birth control methods and information, and the trial of Black Panther

Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", ...

. The sculpture in the courthouse's front was executed by

J. Massey Rhind John Massey Rhind (9 July 1860 – 1 January 1936) was a Scottish-American sculptor. Among Rhind's better known works is the marble statue of Dr. Crawford W. Long located in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington D.C. (1926). E ...

.Colin M. Caplan, ''A Guide to Historic New Haven, Connecticut'' (The History Press: 2007), p. 22. The figures in Rhind's tympanum are ''Justice'', ''Victory'', ''Precedence'', ''Accuracy'', ''Common Law'', ''Statutory Law'', ''Progress'' and ''Commerce''. Unobtrusive netting is installed across the tympanum to prevent

hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

s from nesting there, as the birds have done in the past.

References

External links

Historic postcards depicting the New Haven County Courthouse
{{National Register of Historic Places Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Neoclassical architecture in Connecticut Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut Beaux-Arts architecture in Connecticut Government buildings completed in 1917 County courthouses in Connecticut Buildings and structures in New Haven, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in New Haven, Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References

External links