Hudson County Courthouse

Infobox nrhp
name = Hudson County Courthouse
nrhp_type =


caption =
location = 583 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey USA
nearest_city =
lat_degrees = 40
lat_minutes = 43
lat_seconds = 54.2
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 74
long_minutes = 3
long_seconds = 26.1
long_direction = W
area =
built = 1910
architect = Hugh Roberts
architecture =Beaux Arts
added = August 25, 1970
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
refnum = 70000385cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|accessdate=2008-08-19|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
mpsub =
governing_body = County of Hudson

The Hudson County Courthouse or Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Courthouse is located in Jersey City, New Jersey. The six-story structure was originally built between 1906 and 1910 at a cost of $3,328,016.56.cite web | work=Historic American Buildings Survey | url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=hhdatapage&fileName=nj/nj0000/nj0062/data/hhdatapage.db&recNum=1&itemLink=D?hh:1:./temp/~ammem_dhLk | title=Hudson County Courthouse, 583 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, Hudson County, NJ] It is considered to be an outstanding example of the Beaux Arts architectural style in the United States.

The courthouse was used as the primary seat of government for Hudson County from its opening on 1910-09-20 until the construction of the Hudson County Administration Building in 1966. The courthouse was vacant for many years and was scheduled for demolition. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 25, 1970. Restoration of the building began in the mid-1970s, and the building was reopened in 1985. In 1984, the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders renamed the building in honor of Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. The restoration of the courthouse was acknowledged by a Victorian Society in America Preservation Award in 1988. [cite web|url=http://www.victoriansociety.org/presawardsrecipients.html|title=Preservation awards recipients|publisher=The Victorian Society in America|accessdate=2008-08-19]

As of 2008, the courthouse was actively used for the offices of the County Executive, County Clerk, Hudson County Bar Association and regularly used for filming courtroom scenes in the television series "Law & Order". [cite web|url=http://www.destinationjerseycity.com/court_house.php|title=Court House|work=destinationjerseycity.com|publisher=Destination: Jersey City|accessdate=2008-08-23]

Construction

The Courthouse was designed by Jersey City native Hugh Roberts, twice a president of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. [cite web|url=http://www.aia-nj.org/about/pastpresidents.shtml|title=Past Presidents|publisher=AIANJ|accessdate=2008-08-23] Roberts, brother-in-law of future United States Senator and New Jersey Governor Edward I. Edwards, received a direct appointment as architect. No competition or bidding for designs was held, causing controversy among local architects.cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7DA1F3CF93AA35751C0A960948260|title=ART; THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE IN THE HUDSON COUNTY COURTHOUSE |last=Raynor|first=Vivien|date=1986-02-09|work=The New York Times|accessdate=2008-08-23] The property on which the courthouse stands was obtained from fourteen separate property owners between 1905 and 1914. The groundbreaking took place on 1906-03-21 and the cornerstone was laid on 1906-12-12. Construction of the building was done by Wells Brothers of New York City and contruction of the interiors and finishes were by John Gill & Son of Cleveland, Ohio.

The courthouse is constructed of granite quarried in Hallowell, Maine. The front of the building is visually dominated by four Corinthian columns and a frieze above the main entrance bearing the inscription "Precedent Makes Law; If You Stand Well, Stand Still."

Interiors

Roberts delegated the assignment of artwork to the muralist Francis David Millet, noted for his work as decorations director for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago; Millet assigned himself two lunettes on the third floor and a dozen small panels in the second floor corridors. Also on the third floor, Millet assigned two lunettes to Charles Yardley Turner, as well as eight more to Kenyon Cox. Cox also provided the groined ceilings. Edwin Blashfield painted the glass dome and the four pendentives between its supporting arches. The Tudor-style legislative chamber of the Board of Freeholders on the second floor was adorned with murals by Howard Pyle depicting early life of the Dutch and English in New Jersey. This room has been called "one of the handsomest legislative chambers in the United States."

David G. Lowe, writing in "American Heritage" magazine, described the interior of the building:

"The courthouse interior is a rush of color—pearl gray and green-veined marbles, golden light fixtures, yellow, green, and blue paint. Standing in the great central court, one looks up the three stories of the magnificent rotunda to a dome whose outer rim is painted with the signs of the zodiac and whose center is an eye of stained glass worthy of Tiffany. One feels—as one does in the rotunda at the heart of the Capitol in Washington—the dignity of government and the permanence of law."cite news|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1966/6/1966_6_26.shtml|title=REQUIEM for a COURTHOUSE|last=Lowe|first=David G.|date=October 1966|work=American Heritage Magazine|accessdate=2008-08-20]

Restoration

Plans for restoring the courthouse had been proposed even before it fell into disuse. In 1961, the architectural modelist Theodore Conrad proposed converting the building into a new city hall for Jersey City. The plan would have created a mall in front of the building and surrounded it with additional city buildings and a museum. Another proposal would house a branch of the New Jersey State Museum in the building. [cite news|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30E12F839541A7493C7A91789D85F4D8685F9|title=Jersey Court Reprieved|date=1969-02-05|work=The New York Times|pages=36|accessdate=2008-08-23] Conrad led a citizens group that lobbied for the preservation of the building, and got it listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E2DB1739F933A1575BC0A962958260|title=Theodore Conrad, 84, Modeler And Architecture Preservationist|last=Dunlap|first=David W.|date=1994-08-20|work=The New York Times|accessdate=2008-08-23] The award-winning restoration project resulted in the courthouse being reopened in 1985 for the use of the civil courts and other county offices.

Renaming

The Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders renamed the courthouse in 1984 in honor of Associate Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, who had served in the building as Hudson County Assignment Judge from 1947 through 1951.cite news|title=Despite Plea, County Will Honor Brennan|date=1989-08-13|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|pages=B08|quote=The county Board of Freeholders unanimously voted Thursday that the 83-year-old building should continue honoring Brennan, who served as Hudson County's assignment judge from 1947 to 1951.] Following the Supreme Court decision in Texas v. Johnson, which Brennan authored, veterans groups petitioned unsuccessfully to have the name removed, but the Freeholders unanimously voted to retain the name.

References