Okeechobee County Courthouse

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Okeechobee County Courthouse

Okeechobee County Courthouse.jpg

Okeechobee County Courthouse, 2006, before renovations.
General information
Architectural style Southern Colonial Revival, Mediterranean Revival
Town or city 304 NW 2nd St., Okeechobee, Florida
Country United States
Coordinates 27°14′41″N80°49′56″W / 27.244793°N 80.832276°W / 27.244793; -80.832276
Construction started 1925
Completed 1926, accepted and opened 1927
Cost $200,000
Client Okeechobee County
Design and construction
Architect George Gaynor Hyde
Engineer Builder: Rogers and Duncanson
Okeechobee County Courthouse, 2010, during renovations. Okeechobee FL crths02.jpg
Okeechobee County Courthouse, 2010, during renovations.
Okeechobee County Courthouse, 2010, after completion of renovations. Note: Photograph features the newly installed security door which is lowered at the close of business. Okeechobee FL crths06.jpg
Okeechobee County Courthouse, 2010, after completion of renovations. Note: Photograph features the newly installed security door which is lowered at the close of business.

The Okeechobee County Courthouse, built in 1926, is an historic courthouse building located at 304 Northwest Second Street in Okeechobee, Florida. It was designed by architect George Gaynor Hyde of Miami in what has been variously called the Southern Colonial Revival or Mediterranean Revival style of architecture. Due to the collapse of the Florida Land Boom during its construction, its central dome was never built. After the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, its hallways were used as a temporary morgue. An open breezeway was planned and built through the center front of the first floor but was later enclosed; the winding stairways to the second floor courtroom still remain. [1] [2] [3]

Courthouse building which is home to a court

A courthouse 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-speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply called "courts" or "court buildings". In most of Continental Europe and former non-English-speaking European colonies, the equivalent term is a palace of justice.

Okeechobee, Florida City in Florida, United States

Okeechobee is a city in Okeechobee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 5,621, reflecting an increase of 245 (+4.6%) from the 5,376 counted in the 2000 Census. It is the county seat of Okeechobee County. The Lake Okeechobee area was the site of the worst effects of the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane, the first recorded Category 5 hurricane in the North Atlantic and still one of the deadliest hurricanes ever to strike the US.

Florida State of the United States of America

Florida is the southernmost contiguous state in the United States. The state is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida. Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U.S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. The Miami metropolitan area is Florida's most populous urban area. Tallahassee is the state's capital.

In 1989, the Okeechobee County Courthouse was listed in A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, published by the University of Florida Press. [4]

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References

  1. Florida's Historic Courthouses
  2. History of Okeechobee
  3. Tommy Markham's Pictorial History of Okeechobee County, page 7A
  4. A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, 1989, Gainesville: University of Florida Press, p. 131, ISBN   0-8130-0941-3