Allegheny County Courthouse
- Architect
- Henry Hobson Richardson
- Year
- 1888
- Style
- Richardsonian Romanesque
- City
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Collection
- richardson's legacy
The Allegheny County Courthouse in Downtown Pittsburgh, completed in 1888, is the centerpiece of a complex that also includes the old Allegheny County Jail, both designed by Henry Hobson Richardson. Considered among the finest examples of the Romanesque Revival style that bears his name, Richardson himself called it his 'great achievement.' It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
the building
Built on Grant's Hill. The site was purchased in 1834 at the corner of Forbes Avenue and Grant Street, on high ground known as Grant's Hill. An earlier courthouse there, built between 1836 and 1840, was faced in polished gray sandstone quarried at Coal Hill - present-day Mount Washington - across the Monongahela. That building was demolished to make way for Richardson's design.
Streets named for the city's founders. The complex is framed by three thoroughfares named for figures in Pittsburgh's founding: Ross Street for James Ross, Forbes Avenue for John Forbes, and Grant Street for James Grant.
Paired with the county jail. Richardson designed the courthouse alongside the adjoining Allegheny County Jail as a single complex, and together the two buildings are regarded as among the finest examples of the Romanesque Revival style associated with his name.
the style
The courthouse and jail are considered among the finest expressions of Romanesque Revival architecture associated with Richardson, the style that came to be called Richardsonian Romanesque after his work here and elsewhere established it as a distinctly American civic idiom.
More on Richardsonian Romanesquethe architect
Henry Hobson Richardson, the architect for whom Richardsonian Romanesque is named, considered the Allegheny County Courthouse his 'great achievement.' Completed in 1888, it stands among his major late works of monumental civic architecture.
More on Henry Hobson Richardsonsignificance
The courthouse was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, recognition of its standing as Richardson's self-described masterwork and a civic centerpiece of Pittsburgh.
more by Henry Hobson Richardson
nearby
- Old Allegheny County Jail
- Pittsburgh City-County Building
- BNY Mellon Center
- Frick Building
- Grant Building
- Union Trust Building