The Wayne County Building is a monumental government structure located at 600 Randolph Street in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. It formerly contained the Wayne County administrative offices – now located in the

Guardian Building The Guardian Building is a landmark skyscraper in the United States, located at 500 Griswold Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, within the Financial District. The Guardian is a class-A office building owned by Wayne County, Michigan and serves ...

at 500 Griswold Street – and its

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 ...

. As Wayne County Courthouse, it 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 1975. When it was completed in 1902, it was regarded as "one of the most sumptuous buildings in Michigan". (connection is slow to display)

Architecture

The building was designed by Detroit architects John and Arthur Scott. P. 100. Constructed from 1897 to 1902, it may be one of the nation's finest surviving examples of Roman Baroque Revival architecture, with a blend of Beaux-Arts and some elements of the Neoclassical style. The building stands 5 floors and was built using copper,

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 ...

, and

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

. The exterior is profusely ornamented with sculpture; the interior is finished in a variety of woods,

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 ...

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

s, and

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s. P. 17. Built with buff Berea sandstone, the façade features a rusticated basement story and a balustrade between the third and fourth stories. At the main entrance, a broad flight of stairs leads up to a two-story

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

portico. The structure boasts a tall, four-tiered,

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

central tower balanced by end

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

s. The courthouse tower was originally 227' 8½" tall; the copper

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

and

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

were redone in the 1960s, bringing its height to 247 feet. The exterior

architectural sculpture Architectural sculpture is the use of sculptural techniques by an architect and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project. The sculpture is usually integrated with the structure, but freestanding works that a ...

, including the

Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his mil ...

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

, was executed by Detroit sculptor

Edward Wagner Edward Q Wagner (1855, Germany – 1922, Detroit, United States) was a German-American sculptor. Early years Wagner had immigrated from Germany to the United States by 1871 settling in Detroit, Michigan. After arriving in Detroit he studie ...

. The other sculptures, two

quadriga A () is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in Classical Antiquity and the Roman Empire until the Late Middle Ages. The word derives from the Latin contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke. The four- ...

s, ''Victory'' and ''Progress'' and four figures on the tower, ''Law'', ''Commerce'', ''Agriculture'', and ''Mechanics'', were sculpted by New York sculptor

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 ...

, and made by

Salem, Ohio Salem is the largest city in Columbiana County, Ohio, with a small district in southern Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 11,915. It is the principal city of the Salem micropolitan area in Northeast Ohio. It is 18 m ...

resident

William H. Mullins William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

in 1903. On the other end of

Campus Martius The Campus Martius (Latin for the "Field of Mars", Italian ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which covers ...

was the old

Detroit City Hall The Detroit City Hall was the seat of government for the city of Detroit, Michigan from 1871–1961. The building sat on the west side of Campus Martius bounded by Griswold Street to the west, Michigan Avenue to the north, Woodward Avenue to the ...

, and they adorned the landscape as 'bookends'. A

renovation Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, ...

was carried out in 1987 by

Quinn Evans Architects Quinn may refer to: People * Quinn (soccer) (born 1995), Canadian soccer player and Olympic gold medalist * Quinn (given name) * Quinn (surname) * Quinn (musician) Places in the United States * Quinn, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Quinn ...

and Smith, Hinchman & Grylls Associates.

Recent news

On July 18, 2007, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano announced Wayne County had entered into an agreement to purchase the

to relocate its offices from the Wayne County Building. This purchase would commence when the county's lease on their current home expires in 2008 and end a difficult tenant-landlord relationship between the owners and the County. The ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'' print edition on July 21, 2007, carried a front-page article about the current landlord offering a reduced rate for the county to remain.''Detroit Free Press''
"Landlord offers to drop county's rent if it stays"
(Accessed July 21, 2007). In July 2014, the Wayne County Commission approved the sale of the building along with a county-owned parking lot at 400 E. Fort Street to a New York investment group for $13.4 million. The building is expected to be renovated for single tenant occupancy.

Gallery

File:Downtown, Detroit, MI, USA - panoramio (2).jpg, Wayne County Building in 2014 Image:Detroit MI 2015.jpg, At night, 2015 Image:JMRDetroit1.jpg, ''Victory and Progress''
by

Image:JMRWayneCoBldg2.jpg, by J. Massey Rhind Image:JMRWayneCoBldg3.jpg, by J. Massey Rhind Image:JMRDetroit4.jpg, by J. Massey Rhind Image:JMRWayneCoBldg1.jpg, by J. Massey Rhind Image:EWagnerAWayne1.jpg,

Pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

Image:WayneCountyspire.jpg, Spire Image:ComericaTowerdetroit3.jpg,

One Detroit Center Ally Detroit Center, formerly One Detroit Center, is a List of tallest buildings in Detroit, skyscraper and class-A Commercial property, office building located in Downtown Detroit, overlooking the Detroit Financial District. Rising , the 43-st ...

has similar architectural accents Image:WCbldg1.jpg, From Brush and Congress streets Image:DetroitDownBrushSt.JPG,

Renaissance Center The Renaissance Center (also known as the GM Renaissance Center and nicknamed the RenCen) is a group of seven connected skyscrapers in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Renaissance Center complex is on the Detroit International Riv ...

with the Wayne County Building Image:Wayne County Building 1899.jpg, Wayne County Building in 1899 Image:Wayne County Building (NBY 6989).jpg, Wayne County Building, circa 1900s

References

External links

Wayne County Courthouse
* *
Historic images
from

Detroit Public Library The Detroit Public Library is the second largest library system in the U.S. state of Michigan by volumes held (after the University of Michigan Library) and the 21st-largest library system (and the fourth-largest public library system) in the Uni ...

{{National Register of Historic Places listings in Wayne County, Michigan Buildings and structures in Detroit County government buildings in Michigan Downtown Detroit Government buildings completed in 1902 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites in Wayne County, Michigan National Historic Landmarks in Metro Detroit National Register of Historic Places in Detroit 1902 establishments in Michigan 1902 sculptures Outdoor sculptures in Michigan Baroque Revival architecture in the United States Beaux-Arts architecture in Michigan Neoclassical architecture in Michigan County courthouses in Michigan

Architecture

Recent news

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links