John Minor Wisdom United States Court of Appeals Building
- Style
- Renaissance Revival
- City
- New Orleans, LA
This federal courthouse at 600 Camp Street began as a combined U.S. post office and district/appeals court building, won in an 1908 design competition by the New York firm Hale and Rogers and approved by Treasury Department officials in 1909. Construction dragged on for years — the date 1912 is incised on the Lafayette Street frieze, but the interior wasn't finished until 1915, and employees didn't move in until 1916. It's now named for Judge John Minor Wisdom, who sat on the Fifth Circuit here during the civil rights era.
the building
A building that took a decade. Hale and Rogers won the design competition in 1908 and broke ground later in 1909 on the block bounded by Lafayette, Camp, Magazine, and Capdeville streets. The frieze on the Lafayette Street side is dated 1912, but the interior wasn't actually finished until 1915, and federal employees only moved into their offices in 1916.
Facing Lafayette Square. The building occupies the full block overlooking Lafayette Square, giving the Fifth Circuit's grand civic facade a prominent public square as its front yard rather than a typical downtown street frontage.
the style
The building was designed in a Renaissance Revival and Mediterranean Revival idiom, giving the Fifth Circuit the kind of grand civic facade typical of federal court buildings of its era.
More on Renaissance Revivalsignificance
In 2015 the building was designated a National Historic Landmark for its extensive role in adjudicating civil rights cases during the 1950s and 1960s. It was later renamed for Judge John Minor Wisdom, who served on the Fifth Circuit through that period.
nearby
- Plaza Tower
- Benson Tower
- Gallier Hall
- Hancock Whitney Center
- Sister Stanislaus Memorial Building
- Confederate Memorial Hall