The United States Courthouse, located in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, is the headquarters for the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa The United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa (in case citations, S.D. Iowa) has jurisdiction over forty-seven of Iowa's ninety-nine counties. It is subject to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Eighth ...

. It is part of the Civic Center Historic District that was 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 ...

in 1988.

History

The United States District Court for the District of Iowa was established on March 3, 1845. It was divided into the

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

and Southern Districts on July 20, 1882. Des Moines became the headquarters for the Southern District and in 1902 there were discussions that the riverfront would be a suitable location for a new Federal Courthouse. While other sites were considered in 1913 when funds were allocated for a new courthouse, the riverfront was still the desired location. Property was purchased in 1918, but there was a desire for more land so construction was delayed until it was purchased in 1926. The building was designed by and constructed under the direction of the

Office of the Supervising Architect The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939. The office handled some of the most important architectural commissions of the nineteenth ...

under

James A. Wetmore James Alfonso Wetmore (November 1863 – March 14, 1940) was an American lawyer and administrator, best known as the Acting Supervising Architect of the U.S. Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department from 1915 through 1933 ...

. The courthouse joined other buildings in a Civic Center district that flanks the

Des Moines River The Des Moines River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately long from its farther headwaters.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Na ...

. Their placement reflects the

City Beautiful Movement The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...

, which upheld the notions of civic patriotism, urban economics and beauty. The building opened in 1929. Not only did it house space for the court, but also

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

, Interior,

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

and the

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

departments. The building has subsequently been turned over to the courts and the other departments have moved to another office building downtown. An annex building was constructed to the south of the courthouse in 1995. A landmark legal decision was made in the courthouse in 1979. Judge William Stuart held that the federal government has the right to legislate travel by long trucks on interstate highways that are maintained by federal funding. The decision was upheld by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. By 2015 the Southern District of Iowa had determined that the courthouse does not have adequate space, there are not enough courtrooms, and there are security concerns. A spending bill approved by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

in December 2015 provided money for a new federal courthouse in Des Moines, but its location, cost and schedule to open have not been determined.

Architecture

The courthouse complex occupies an entire city block with its main

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

on Walnut Street. The building is four stories tall and built on a raised basement. While it appears to be rectangular in shape, it is actually E-shaped. The

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

style building is a steel-framed structure covered in

Indiana limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...

. The raised basement is

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 ...

limestone and features flat-arched window openings. The

piano nobile The ''piano nobile'' (Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ''bel étage'') is the principal floor of a palazzo. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the hou ...

is finished with rusticated limestone and has semi-circular arched window openings that are ornamented with

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 ...

. The top two stories feature two-story Corinthian columns and

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. The top floor has paneled pilasters and a banded

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 ...

. The main façade is 19-bays wide with slightly projecting pavilions on both corners. Like the exterior, the interior also reflects the Classical Revival style. The main entrance was relocated to the basement level to accommodate everyone regardless of disability. The entrance opens into the main

foyer A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, reception area or an entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cinema, etc. ...

, which contains the original gold, black, and white speckled

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bindi ...

flooring framed by a base of

red Verona marble Red Verona marble is a variety of limestone rock which takes its name from Verona in Northern Italy. It includes internal skeletons of ammonites and belemnoidea rostra in a fecal pellets matrix. It has been quarried from Red Ammonitic ''facies' ...

. The grand staircase is composed of Napoleon gray marble treads and buff-colored marble risers. The

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

is made of cast iron and features vine-like curved scrolls with floral accents, fitted between bands of floral discs and squares. A mural is located above the lower stairs and portrays pioneers and a blacksmith. It is possibly a

Works Project Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

commission. A plaster

coffered A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also c ...

ceiling completes the entrance hall. The main courtroom on the second floor was restored in 1988. It still maintains its original floor bordered in pink Tennessee marble and a coffered ceiling. The walls are plastered to look like travertine ashlar masonry. The judge's bench sits on top of a platform of pink Tennessee marble. It sits in front of an alcove flanked by two Corinthian columns. Above the bench are the words, ''Justitia Omnibus'' (Justice for All).

References

External links

Federal Judicial Center Historic Federal Courthouses page on the United States Courthouse (Des Moines, Iowa)
{{Historic Des Moines structures Government buildings completed in 1928 Federal courthouses in the United States Courthouses in Iowa Neoclassical architecture in Iowa Buildings and structures in Des Moines, Iowa Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Des Moines, Iowa Historic district contributing properties in Iowa