New Haven County Courthouse

New Haven County Courthouse

New Haven County Courthouse in 2008
Location 121 Elm Street, New Haven, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°18′38″N 72°55′27″W / 41.31056°N 72.92417°W / 41.31056; -72.92417Coordinates: 41°18′38″N 72°55′27″W / 41.31056°N 72.92417°W / 41.31056; -72.92417
Area 1.2 acres (0.49 ha)
Built 1917
Architect Allen and Williams
Architectural style Beaux Arts, Classical Revival
NRHP Reference # 03000404[1]
Added to NRHP May 16, 2003

The New Haven County Courthouse is located at 121 Elm Street in the Downtown section of New Haven, Connecticut. The building was built in 1917 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 16, 2003.[1]

It faces onto the New Haven Green. Specifically it is located on the northwest corner of Elm and Church Streets, facing the northeast corner of the green, across Elm Street. It contains "several of the city's grandest interior spaces."[2] The courthouse was designed by William H. Allen and Richard Williams. Their Beaux Arts architecture design won a design competition over submissions from several well-known architects.

Significant court cases tried at the courthouse include Griswold v. Connecticut (a historic trial involving women's right to birth control) and the trial of Black Panther Bobby Seale.[2]

The building was under threat of demolition in 1956.[2]

The building's exterior underwent a $10.5 million renovation project, with work beginning in January 2013.[3]

The sculpture in the courthouse's front was executed by J. Massey Rhind.[4] The figures in Rhind's tympanum are Justice, Victory, Precedence, Accuracy, Common Law, Statutory Law, Progress and Commerce.[3] Unobtrusive netting is installed across the tympanum to prevent hawks from nesting there, as the birds have done in the past.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 Heather L. McGrath and William G. Foulks (July 9, 2002). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: New Haven County Courthouse (including 20 photo copies)" (PDF). National Park Service. and Accompanying 13 photos, exterior and interior, from 2002
  3. 1 2 3 Mary E. O'Leary, New Haven Superior Courthouse once again a jewel on the Green, New Haven Register (April 6, 2015).
  4. ↑ Colin M. Caplan, A Guide to Historic New Haven, Connecticut (The History Press: 2007), p. 22.


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