The Surrogate's Courthouse (also the Hall of Records and 31 Chambers Street) is a historic building at the northwest corner of

Chambers Chambers may refer to: Places Canada: *Chambers Township, Ontario United States: *Chambers County, Alabama * Chambers, Arizona, an unincorporated community in Apache County * Chambers, Nebraska * Chambers, West Virginia * Chambers Township, Hol ...

and Centre Streets in the

Civic Center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Completed in 1907, it was designed in the Beaux Arts style.

John Rochester Thomas John Rochester Thomas (June 18, 1848 – August 28, 1901) was an American architect credited in his time with being the nation's most prolific designer of public and semi-public buildings. His work was characterized by originality, moderation a ...

created the original plans while Arthur J. Horgan and Vincent J. Slattery oversaw the building's completion. The building faces

City Hall Park City Hall Park is a public park surrounding New York City Hall in the Civic Center of Manhattan. It was the town commons of the nascent city of New York. History 17th century David Provoost was an officer in the Dutch West India Company. Hi ...

and the

Tweed Courthouse The Tweed Courthouse (also known as the Old New York County Courthouse) is a historic courthouse building at 52 Chambers Street (Manhattan), Chambers Street in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center of Manhattan in New York City. It was ...

to the south and the

Manhattan Municipal Building The David N. Dinkins Municipal Building (originally the Municipal Building and later known as the Manhattan Municipal Building) is a 40-story, building at 1 Centre Street, east of Chambers Street, in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhatt ...

to the east. The Surrogate's Courthouse is a seven-story steel-framed structure with a

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

facade and elaborate

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

interiors. The fireproof frame was designed to safely accommodate the city's paper records. The exterior is decorated with 54 sculptures by

Philip Martiny Philip H. Martiny (May 19, 1858 – June 26, 1927) was a French-American sculptor who worked in the Paris atelier of Eugene Dock, where he became foreman before emigrating to New York in 1878—to avoid conscription in the French army, he later ...

and Henry Kirke Bush-Brown, as well as three-story

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

s with

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 along Chambers and Reade Streets. The basement houses the

New York City Municipal Archives The New York City Municipal Archives (NYCMA) is a division of the New York City Department of Records and Information Services, located in the Surrogate's Courthouse in Manhattan. Founded in 1950, the Municipal Archives preserves and makes access ...

. The fifth floor contains the

New York Surrogate's Court The Surrogate's Court of the State of New York handles all probate and estate proceedings in the New York State Unified Court System. All wills are probated in this court and all estates of people who die without a will are handled in this court ...

for

New York County Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, which handles

probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...

and estate proceedings for the New York State Unified Court System. The Hall of Records building had been planned since the late 19th century to replace an outdated building in

; plans for the current building were approved in 1897. Construction took place between 1899 and 1907, having been subject to several delays because of controversies over funding, sculptures, and Horgan and Slattery's involvement after Thomas's death in 1901. Renamed the Surrogate's Courthouse in 1962, the building has undergone few alterations over the years. The Surrogate's Courthouse is 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 ...

as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

, and its facade and interior are both

New York City designated landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

Site

The Surrogate's Courthouse is in the

neighborhood of

, just north of

. It occupies an entire

city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within t ...

bounded by Chambers Street to the south, Centre Street to the east, Reade Street to the north, and Elk Street to the west. Other nearby buildings and locations include 49 Chambers and 280 Broadway to the west; the

Ted Weiss Federal Building The Ted Weiss Federal Building, also known as the Foley Square Federal Building, is a 34-story United States Federal Building at 290 Broadway in the Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1994, the building was ...

and

African Burial Ground National Monument African Burial Ground National Monument is a monument at Duane Street and African Burial Ground Way (Elk Street) in the Civic Center section of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Its main building is the Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway. ...

to the northwest; the

Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse The Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse (originally the United States Courthouse or the Foley Square Courthouse) is a 37-story courthouse at 40 Centre Street on Foley Square in the Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York ...

to the northeast; the

to the east; and the

and

New York City Hall New York City Hall is the Government of New York City, seat of New York City government, located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, Park R ...

to the southwest, within City Hall Park. The ground slopes downward from south to north; the original ground elevation was below Reade Street and close to sea level. The surrounding area contains evidence of the interments of individuals, mostly of African descent, but the foundations of the Surrogate's Courthouse may have destroyed any remnants of corpses on the site. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Surrogate's Courthouse site was on a hill called "Pot Baker's" or "Potter's Hill", so named because several families in the pottery industry lived or worked nearby. The site also included a water reservoir built of stone and maintained by the

Manhattan Company The Manhattan Company was a New York bank and holding company established on September 1, 1799. The company merged with Chase National Bank in 1955 to form the Chase Manhattan Bank. It is the oldest of the predecessor institutions that eventually ...

from 1799 until 1842, when the

Croton Aqueduct The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueducts, which were among the first in the United States, carried water by gravity from ...

opened. In the mid-19th century, the site contained small loft buildings. Before the completion of Elk Street in 1901, the site was part of a larger city block bounded by Broadway and Chambers, Centre, and Reade Streets.

Architecture

The Surrogate's Courthouse was designed in the Beaux-Arts style,

being the original architect. After Thomas's death in 1901, Arthur J. Horgan and Vincent J. Slattery oversaw the completion of the plan. Their relatively unknown firm had connections to the politically powerful

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

organization of the time. The final design largely conforms to Thomas's original plans, though Horgan and Slattery were mostly responsible for the sculptural ornamentation.

Fay Kellogg Fay Kellogg (May 13, 1871 – July 10, 1918) was described as "the foremost woman architect in the United States" in the early years of the 20th century. She specialized in steel construction. The building has undergone relatively few alterations since its completion in 1907. The Surrogate's Courthouse's seven-story granite facade wraps around the building's structural frame, while the interiors are elaborately designed in marble. The building was designed to be fireproof to house the city's paper records safely. The interior spaces are popular with film and television production companies and have been used in many commercials, TV series, and movies. Besides housing the Surrogate's Court for

, the building contains the

, the New York City Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS)'s City Hall Library, and the

New York City Department of Cultural Affairs The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) is the department of the government of New York City dedicated to supporting New York City's cultural life. Among its primary missions is ensuring adequate public funding for non-profit cultur ...

Facade

The facade of the Surrogate's Courthouse consists mostly of granite from

Hallowell, Maine Hallowell is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,570 at the 2020 census. Popular with tourists, Hallowell is noted for its culture and old architecture. Hallowell is included in the Augusta, Maine, micropolita ...

, with

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

masonry. It is split vertically into a two-story rusticated base, a three-story midsection, a sixth story and a seventh story in a

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

. The northern and southern

elevations The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

are split vertically into five bays, with multiple windows on each floor in the center bays, while the western and eastern elevations are split into three bays. The central portion of the southern (Chambers Street) elevation contains three double-height arched doorways, each of which contains a pair of doors and a window with bronze grilles.; The doorways are flanked by granite columns, each cast from a single granite slab and topped by modified composite capitals. This entrance was wainscoted entirely with Siena marble at the building's completion. There are side entrances at the center of the western elevation on Elk Street, from which there is a small flight of steps, as well as at the center of the eastern elevation on Centre Street.; The Reade Street elevation contains a wheelchair-accessible entrance. On the northern and southern elevations, the central five windows of the third through fifth stories are flanked by a projecting

style

with four single columns between two paired columns at either end. On all four elevations, the outermost bays are designed with window openings on the second, third, fifth, and sixth stories, and sculptures around porthole windows on the fourth story. The remaining six windows on the north and south, and the center nine windows on the west and east, are slightly recessed behind the end bays, with different window designs on each story. An

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 a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

runs above the fifth story, and another cornice runs above the sixth story. The seventh story contains

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

windows with carved hoods, projecting from the mansard roof in all except the end bays.

Sculptures

Surrogate's Courthouse Hall of Records 31 Chambers Street top

The exterior features fifty-four

sculptures Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and Henry Kirke Bush-Brown. Martiny was hired for the main sculptural groups, while Bush-Brown designed the smaller sculptures. Like the rest of the facade, the statues were carved from Hallowell granite. On Chambers and Centre Streets, Martiny carved 24 standing figures at the sixth floor, under the cornice. These sculptures depict eminent figures from the city's past, including

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant (; in Dutch also ''Pieter'' and ''Petrus'' Stuyvesant, ; 1610 – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial officer who served as the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Net ...

DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the seventh governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely res ...

David Pietersen De Vries David Pieterszoon de Vries ( – 13 September 1655) was a Dutch navigator from Hoorn.Joris van der MeeKoopman in de West; De indianen en de Nieuw Nederlanders in het journaal van David Pietersz. De Vries, 2001 (Dutch) Biography In 1617, De ...

, and mayors

Caleb Heathcote Caleb Heathcote (March 6, 1665 – February 28, 1721) served as the 31st Mayor of New York City from 1711 to 1713. Early life Heathcote was born on March 6, 1665, in his father's house in Chesterfield in Derbyshire, England. Caleb was the sixth ...

Abram Stevens Hewitt Abram Stevens Hewitt (July 31, 1822January 18, 1903) was an American politician, educator, ironmaking industrialist, and lawyer who was mayor of New York City for two years from 1887–1888. He also twice served as a U.S. Congressman from an ...

Philip Hone Philip Hone (October 25, 1780 – May 5, 1851) was Mayor of New York City from 1826 to 1827.Minutes of the Common Council of the City of New York, 1784-1831. Volume XV, November 10, 1825 to December 25, 1826'. New York: City of New York, 1917. p. ...

, Cadwallader David Colden and

James Duane James Duane (February 6, 1733 – February 1, 1797) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, attorney, jurist, and American Revolutionary War, American Revolutionary leader from New York (state), New York. He serve ...

. Martiny also designed the groups of sculptures flanking the Chambers and Centre Street entrances. Three sculptures flank the Chambers Street entrance, while two originally flanked the Centre Street entrance. The Centre Street sculptures, depicting ''Justice'' and ''Authority'', were removed in 1959; they were relocated to the

New York County Courthouse The New York State Supreme Court Building, originally known as the New York County Courthouse, at 60 Centre Street on Foley Square in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, houses the Civil and Appellate Terms of the New ...

. On all four sides, Bush-Brown designed groups of allegorical figures for the roof. The figures were arranged in standing, sitting, or reclining postures. Figures depicting ''Heritage'' and ''Maternity'' are at the base of the central dormer on Chambers Street. Above the central Chambers Street dormer is a clock with a dial measuring across, flanked by figures of ''Poetry'' and ''Philosophy'' and topped by four cherubs and two caryatids. A similar dormer at the center of Reade Street has figures depicting ''Instruction'', ''Study'', ''Law'', and ''History''. The central Centre Street dormer has figures of ''Inscription'' and ''Custody'' and the central dormer on the west side has ''Industry'' and ''Commerce''.

Interior

Entrance vestibules

The rectangular entrance vestibule from Chambers Street contains rusticated yellow marble-clad walls. Just opposite the arched entryways is an arcade with decorative

cartouches In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the fea ...

. Double doors made of mahogany are set within marble doorways at either end of the vestibule. The German sculptor

Albert Weinert Albert Weinert (June 13, 1863 – November 29, 1947) was a German-American sculptor. Born in Leipzig, Germany, Weinert attended the Royal Academy of Art and Applied Art there and then the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Belgium. ...

created two marble sculptural groups, one above each set of doorways; these depict the 1624 purchase of Manhattan Island and the 1898 creation of the

City of Greater New York The City of Greater New York was the term used by many politicians and scholars for the expanded City of New York created on January 1, 1898, by consolidating the existing City of New York with Brooklyn, western Queens County, and Staten Is ...

. The vestibule's elliptical ceiling contains mosaic murals and panels created by

William de Leftwich Dodge William de Leftwich Dodge (1867–1935) was an United States, American artist best known for his murals, which were commissioned for both public and private buildings. Early life and education Dodge was born at Bedford County, Virginia, L ...

.; Of the four mosaic murals, three depict the

process (in reference to the Surrogates' Court) and the other depicts the continuity of records. The ceiling's triangular mosaic panels depict Egyptian and Greek motifs along with

zodiac signs In Western astrology, astrological signs are the twelve 30-degree sectors that make up Earth's 360-degree orbit around the Sun. The signs enumerate from the first day of spring, known as the First Point of Aries, which is the vernal equinox. ...

. The mosaic tiles are mostly colored red, green, and blue on dull gold. The vestibule also contains a bronze chandelier, ornamental bronze radiators and a patterned marble floor. Smaller entrance vestibules also exist on the west and east ends of the Surrogate's Courthouse; they are largely similar, except for the steps outside the west vestibule. Decorative bronze-and-glass enclosures frame the doorways, while there are mosaic

lunettes A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...

over the two side doors from the vestibules. In the elliptical ceiling vaults of these vestibules, Dodge also designed mosaics set in glass. The mosaics are generally blue and gold but have green and rose accent strips. The ceiling is divided into several panels with decorative elements like garlands, urns, and acanthus scrolls.;

Lobby and lower stories

The entrance vestibules lead to the main lobby, a triple-story space whose design was inspired by that of the

Palais Garnier The Palais Garnier (, Garnier Palace), also known as Opéra Garnier (, Garnier Opera), is a 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from ...

, the opera house of the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

.; Yellow Sienna marble was used throughout the lobby. Surrounding the lobby space on the first floor is an arched

gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album * ''Gallery'' (Gr ...

with rusticated piers, scrolled

keystones A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allo ...

, red marble

roundels A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of differ ...

, and garlands linking the roundels and keystones. A decorative frieze runs above the first floor gallery. A marble double staircase with balustrade flanks the western entrance archway on the first floor, ascending two flights to an intermediate landing, where a single flight leads to the second floor. On the second floor is a colonnaded gallery containing engaged columns with Ionic-style capitals. The tops of the lobby walls contain decorative entablatures. The ceiling has a bronze elliptical arched vault reaching the height of the third floor. Within the arched vault is a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

-shaped skylight measuring . The hallways on the first floor contain marble walls and multicolored patterned marble floors. The passageways contain

groin vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: L ...

ed ceilings with chandeliers. There are recessed mahogany double-doors leading to the offices, as well as red marble roundels above each doorway. Service functions, such as fuse boxes, are contained within bronze boxes.; The second-floor gallery's arches divide the gallery into bays. Within each bay, there are shallow, domed ceilings supported on decorative

pendentives In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points ...

, and a cornice runs beneath each dome. On the walls, there are arched openings with mahogany double doors. Above the double staircase in the lobby, a balustraded staircase rises from the second-floor gallery to the third floor, with an intermediate landing above the double stairway.

Upper stories

The third through fifth floors are largely similar in plan and surround an interior light court above the lobby. These floors are connected by a staircase similar in design to the one connecting the second and third floors. The floor surfaces of the third through fifth stories are made of mosaic tile, and the walls consist of gray-veined marble panels. Each story contains different decorative designs on the frames surrounding the doorways and on the openings facing the light court. The two Surrogates' courtrooms, on the fifth floor, handle probate and estate proceedings for the New York State Unified Court System. Part of the original design, the rooms contain similar layouts with minor differences in decorative detail.; The courtrooms have gilded, paneled plaster ceilings with decorative reliefs and ornate chandeliers. The north courtroom is finished in Santo Domingo

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

and has four carved panels signifying wisdom, truth, civilization and degradation, as well as six repeating motifs and several portraits of surrogates. The south courtroom is finished in English oak, with French Renaissance style decorative elements. Overlooking each courtroom is a marble balcony, reached by staircases in the respective courtrooms. There are also ornately carved fireplaces, which contain marble mantelpieces lined with bronze surrounds made by Tiffany & Co. The seventh floor and the attic housed the city's records on steel shelves until 2017.

Basement

The vaults of the building's basement extend underneath both Chambers and Reade Streets, descending under Chambers Street and under Reade Street. The Surrogate's Courthouse had been designed with a small power plant in the basement, which provided power to the building and served neighboring municipally owned buildings. The basement contains the municipal government's City Hall Library as well as the Municipal Archives. The library consists of two publicly accessible reading rooms, as well as several storerooms beneath the main basement for the Municipal Archives. The collection contains over 400,000 publications, including 66,000 books and 285,000 newspapers, journals, magazines, and periodical clippings. The material in the collection totals over .

History

In 1831, the original Hall of Records opened northeast of City Hall on the site of the "New Gaol", the old city jail, in present-day City Hall Park.; The ''

New-York Mirror The ''New-York Mirror'' was a weekly newspaper published in New York City from 1823 to 1842, succeeded by ''The New Mirror'' in 1843 and 1844. Its producers then launched a daily newspaper named ''The Evening Mirror'', which published from 1844 ...

'' described the original building as a Grecian-style structure with marble-columned

porticoes A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...

on each side, as well as stucco walls, a copper roof, and masonry floors. In 1870, the original building was expanded by one story and a "fireproof" roof was erected. The first Hall of Records became dilapidated over time and, as early as 1872, lawyers had objected to the rundown condition of the building. Despite its fireproof appearance, the first Hall of Records used wood extensively in its floors and roof. The first Hall of Records was razed in 1903 and an entrance to the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

's Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall/Chambers Street station was built there.

Planning and construction

Need and plans

Ceiling mosaic in the Surrogate's Courthouse (32325)a

By March 1896, a grand jury had reported the old Hall of Records was "unsafe and susceptible to destruction by fire".; The

New York City Department of Health The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is the department of the government of New York City responsible for public health along with issuing birth certificates, dog licenses, and conducting restaurant inspection and enforcem ...

reportedly "repeatedly condemned" conditions in the old building. In a November 1896 meeting of the

New York City Board of Estimate The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments effec ...

, Ashbel P. Fitch, the

New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...

, offered a resolution to create a committee to select a site for a new Hall of Records building. A coalition of lawyers, businesspeople, real estate developers, and property owners formed the next month to advocate for a new building. At the time, the city government preferred that new municipal buildings be erected in the area immediately outside City Hall Park, instead of inside the park, as the old Hall of Records had been. The state legislature authorized the new Hall of Records building in early 1897, and the Board of Estimate recommended a site on the west side of Centre Street, between Reade and Chambers Streets. The site was approved in April 1897 despite the objection of Fitch, who believed that a site immediately to the north would be cheaper. The site approval included an extension of Elm (now Elk) Street southward from Reade to Chambers Street, forming the site's western boundary completed in 1901. Thomas was indirectly chosen as the architect through the second of four

architectural design competition An architectural design competition is a type of design competition in which an organization that intends on constructing a new building invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel o ...

s for the Manhattan Municipal Building, held between 1892 and 1894. From the 134 plans submitted, six finalist designs were chosen in 1894. In February 1896, the Municipal Building Commission of New York City awarded Thomas the first prize in the design competition, which included his employment as the architect of the municipal building. The municipal building for which Thomas had prepared plans had been canceled in 1894. Thomas was selected as the Hall of Records' architect upon the urging of then-mayor William Lafayette Strong. According to architecture critic

Montgomery Schuyler Montgomery Schuyler AIA, (August 19, 1843, Ithaca, New York – July 16, 1914, New Rochelle, New York) was a highly influential critic, journalist and editorial writer in New York City who wrote about and influenced art, literature, music ...

, Strong had reminded the Board of Estimate that Thomas "deserved some consolation for a failure that had occurred by no fault of his own". Thomas presented his plans to the Board of Estimate in May 1897 which referred them to a committee composed of Schuyler, architect

William Robert Ware William Robert Ware (May 27, 1832 – June 9, 1915), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts into a family of the Unitarian clergy, was an American architect, author, and founder of two important American architectural schools. He received his o ...

and philanthropist

Henry Gurdon Marquand Henry Gurdon Marquand (April 11, 1819 – February 26, 1902) was an American financier, philanthropist and art collector known for his extensive collection. Early life Marquand was born in New York City on April 11, 1819, not long after the dea ...

. The Board of Estimate approved them and authorized bids for the building's construction in November 1897.

Start of construction

Thirteen companies submitted bids for granite in December 1897; John Peirce won the contract to supply white Hallowell granite.; Difficulties in acquiring the plots for the building's site delayed the start of work. Some of the old buildings on the site were sold in early 1898. Other property owners resisted the seizure of their property through

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

. The resistance of one landowner (the Wendel family, which owned a myriad of Manhattan properties and had a policy to "never sell anything") required the state legislature to pass a special act to obtain the small portion of the site owned by the Wendels. Lessees also objected to the fact that they would not be compensated for the unexpired terms of their leases. Further complicating the construction process, there were several unsuccessful competing schemes for the site, including proposals for the municipal building and a new county courthouse, both in 1900. As late as 1904, there existed plans to convert the by then nearly complete building into one wing of a new county courthouse. Work on the foundations began in early 1899, but was halted after about ninety days. The main reason was a lack of funding; several bond authorizations for the building had been delayed. Peirce filed a lawsuit in July 1898 to receive payment for the granite he had supplied, and the State Supreme Court issued a

mandamus (; ) is a judicial remedy in the form of an order from a court to any government, subordinate court, corporation, or public authority, to do (or forbear from doing) some specific act which that body is obliged under law to do (or refrain from ...

to authorize a bond issue to pay Pierce. The City Council passed a bill to that effect on August 3. The City Council adopted a resolution in a contentious vote the following week authorizing the issuance of $2.1 million in bonds (about$ million in ) for the building's construction; the City Council president Randolph Guggenheimer was called to cast the deciding vote. Meanwhile, the

-affiliated

Robert Anderson Van Wyck Robert Anderson Van Wyck ( ;Paumgarten, Nick"The Van Wyck Question" ''The New Yorker'', June 11, 2001. Accessed September 12, 2008. July 20, 1849November 14, 1918) was the first mayor of New York City after the consolidation of the five boroughs ...

won the 1897 mayoral election, and soon after his inauguration, accused the Strong Administration of "extravagance" in its design. Ever since the election, Van Wyck had wanted to appoint Horgan and Slattery, who were friendly with the Tammany political machine, as the project's architects. In 1899, the mayor hired the firm to conduct a report on possible ways to reduce the cost of the interior furnishings. The original interior cost was to be $2.5 million (about$ million in ). Following Horgan and Slattery's recommendations, the interior appropriation was reduced by $1 million (about$ million in ), since the interior surfaces were to be made of cement rather than marble. The Board of Estimate received several bids for interior decoration in mid-1900, but it rejected all the bids, since the Comptroller's office had received "a number of complaints" that Thomas had shown favoritism to certain contractors. Guggenheimer laid the building's ceremonial

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

at a ceremony on April 13, 1901.

Change of architect and completion

Work had progressed slightly when Thomas died on August 28, 1901. Under pressure from Van Wyck, the Board of Estimate appointed Horgan and Slattery as the new architects two weeks later, prompting the Thomas estate to sue for damages. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' criticized the change in plans as a "horganizing and slatterifying" of Thomas's original design. Comptroller Bird S. Coler protested against Horgan and Slattery's appointment, and Fitch refused to give Thomas's plans to Horgan and Slattery; the firm could not collect fees unless they had the plans. After

Seth Low Seth Low (January 18, 1850 – September 17, 1916) was an American educator and political figure who served as the mayor of Brooklyn from 1881 to 1885, the president of Columbia University from 1890 to 1901, a diplomatic representative of t ...

won the 1901 New York City mayoral election, he attempted unsuccessfully to cancel Horgan and Slattery's contract, but succeeded in limiting the number of changes made to Thomas's plan. By October 1902, a decision had been made to demolish the old Hall of Records, and at the end of the year, records were moved to a temporary site in the Morton Building on Nassau Street.; Early in 1903, the Board of Estimate moved to approve Thomas's original plans for the interior of the new building. Controversies arose following Martiny's and Bush-Brown's selection as sculptors for the Hall of Records building. Critics said the two sculptors could not commission the sculptures to the desired specifications in a short enough time period, while the city's Municipal Art Commission objected that Horgan and Slattery had never presented them with general plans for the sculptures and decorative marble. Mayor Low upheld the sculptural contracts in June 1903, which ''The New York Times'' estimated to be worth $75,000. The statues were delivered in mid-1903, but not installed for several years, because the Municipal Art Commission refused to approve them until 1906. Three city departments were scheduled to move into the new Hall of Records building in May 1904, when the leases on their current premises expired, but the building was not yet complete despite assurances made the previous year by Jacob A. Cantor, the Manhattan borough president. In an attempt to speed up occupancy of the building, the installation of murals had been delayed. Further delays were announced in 1905, including the plan for Horgan and Slattery to remodel the not-yet-complete interior for $500,000. The contractors made excuses for the delays after an inquiry from the Board of Estimate.

Use

Early to mid-20th century

The first city-government employees moved into the building in December 1906. Shortly after the building's opening, news outlets reported that some of the building's "marble" was made of plaster, but this was consistent with the construction contract calling for "plaster enrichment". The substitution was not the result of corruption, but of the many changes in plans under the administrations of three mayors. Upon the building's completion, Horgan and Slattery claimed its final cost was $5.063 million, while other estimates placed the cost as high as $10 million. In any case, despite the Hall of Records building's expense and the $90,000 annual maintenance cost, the ''

New-York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

'' reported in 1907 that the building was already dirty and that some furnishings had been damaged to an extent described as "little short of criminal". From the beginning, the Hall of Records contained space for New York City's departments of

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

, taxes and assessments, and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, as well as the New York County Register, County Clerk, and Surrogate's Court. Other agencies and organizations occupied the building as well. The Vehicular Tunnel Commission was established in the Hall of Records in 1919, as was an employment bureau for soldiers. The original elevators in the Hall of Records operated for several decades and, over the years, the number of elevators was cut from ten to six. Faults in the Hall of Records' elevator system had resulted in several deaths, while elevator operators were reluctant to operate them. The city government spent several hundred thousand dollars to repair the faulty elevators during the 1930s and 1940s, and new elevators were installed in the building in 1953. Another modification was made to the eastern facade in 1959, when the statues flanking the Centre Street entrance were removed because of street-widening work and the expansion of the underlying subway station.

Late 20th century to present

The Hall of Records was renamed the Surrogate's Courthouse in 1962. The

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

adopted a resolution to rename the structure that October because most of the building's space was used by the court and related offices. During the mid-1960s, the

government of New York City The government of New York City, headquartered at New York City Hall in Lower Manhattan, is organized under the New York City Charter and provides for a mayor-council system. The mayor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for the ...

proposed a new Civic Center municipal building, which entailed destroying several surrounding buildings. The architects of the planned building had proposed the courthouse's eventual demolition because the plans called for the new building and City Hall to be the only structures in an expanded City Hall Park. The redevelopment plans were ultimately scrapped during the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis. During a renovation of the Municipal Building in the 1970s, the Municipal Reference Center was moved to the Surrogate's Courthouse. The Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) was founded in 1977, with its headquarters on the first floor of the Surrogate's Courthouse. DORIS combined the functions of the Municipal Reference Center with those of the Municipal Archives and Record Center, a separate agency. Until 2001, the

New York City Department of Finance The New York City Department of Finance (DOF) is the revenue service, taxation agency and recorder of deeds of the government of New York City. Its Parking Violations Bureau is an administrative court that adjudicates parking violations, while its ...

used part of the second floor for registering and storing

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...

s and

deed In common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions, sealed. It is commonly associated with transferring ...

s. The

moved into a space on the second floor in 2006, following a $4.1 million renovation designed by

Swanke Hayden Connell Architects Swanke Hayden Connell Architects was an international architecture, interiors and historic preservation firm with U.S. headquarters in New York City. History The firm was founded in New York in 1906 by Alexander Stewart Walker (1876-1952) and Leo ...

. The Building Energy Exchange was also established in the Surrogate's Courthouse in 2015, occupying a space once used as a courtroom and as a film set for the television show ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

''. By the 21st century, the Surrogate's Courthouse no longer provided sufficient space for the city's records. In 2017, DORIS began moving the records to the New York State Archives, as well as to the Municipal Archives in the building's basement. In addition, between 2016 and 2020, Urbahn Architects renovated the lobby's skylight, which involved replacing several parts of the corroded steel frame as well as adding replicas of the original skylight's glass blocks. The skylight replacement project received the 2020 Lucy Moses Preservation Award from the

New York Landmarks Conservancy The New York Landmarks Conservancy is a non-profit organization "dedicated to preserving, revitalizing, and reusing" historic structures in New York state. It provides technical assistance, project management services, grants, and loans, to owne ...

Reception and landmark designations

Critical reviews of the Surrogate's Courthouse have largely been positive. Upon the Hall of Records' completion, the ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' said: "The exterior of the big granite pile on Chambers and Centre streets may appeal to the artistic eye, but the interior is a positive revelation, and there is probably nothing like it in any city of the Union." Montgomery Schuyler, who had been on the committee that approved Thomas's plans, wrote in 1905 that "the Hall of Records comes nearer than any other public building in New York to recalling" what he described as a "Parisian" quality. Schuyler said that the design "has reproduced the effect of monuments designed under so much simpler conditions". Architecture critic

Paul Goldberger Paul Goldberger (born in 1950) is an American author, architecture critic and lecturer. He is known for his "Sky Line" column in ''The New Yorker''. Biography Shortly after starting as a reporter at ''The New York Times'' in 1972, he was assign ...

stated that the Surrogate's Courthouse's interior was one of the city's finest Beaux Arts interiors. He compared the building favorably to two contemporaries in lower Manhattan, the smaller Chamber of Commerce Building and the larger

Custom House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting c ...

. The

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

(LPC) described the Hall of Records building as "representative of a period when the Municipality of New York felt itself coming of age". The LPC designated the exterior of the Surrogate's Courthouse as a New York City landmark in 1966, and the interior was similarly designated in 1976. The building was placed on the

in 1972, and it was also designated a

in 1977 for its architecture. The Surrogate's Courthouse building is also located within two historic districts. It is part of the African Burial Ground and the Commons Historic District, which was designated a city landmark district in 1993. The building is also part of the African Burial Ground Historic District, a

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * *

External links

* {{authority control Archives in the United States Beaux-Arts architecture in New York City Civic Center, Manhattan Courthouses in New York (state) Government buildings completed in 1907 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan National Historic Landmarks in Manhattan New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan New York City interior landmarks Outdoor sculptures in Manhattan