List of courthouses in Boston

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This list includes courthouse buildings in Boston, Massachusetts , used by municipal, county, state and federal courts, from the 17th century through the present.

Contents

Built in the 17th and 18th centuries

Built in the 19th century

Stone Court House, between Court Square and School Street; built 1810 JohnsonHall Snow HistoryOfBoston 1828.png
Stone Court House, between Court Square and School Street; built 1810

The Stone Court-House in Court-Square, to which for distinction's sake we have given the name of Johnson Hall ... (with reference to the memory of lsaac Johnson esq. ... a chief patron of the first settlers of Boston ...) was built in 1810. It is described as consisting of an octagon centre, 55 ft. wide, with two wings, 26 by 40 feet, connected by the entrance and passages to the centre. The length of the whole building is 140 ft. The lower story of the centre is improved by the Register of Deeds, and Clerk of the C.C.P. -— the second story by the County Courts, and the upper by the Common Council of the city. The Mayor and Aldermen's room is in the upper story of the western wing; under that are the offices of the Auditor and City Marshal, and on the lower floor the Probate Office. In the eastern wing are the offices of the Clerk of the S.J. Court, rooms for the judges and for the juries, and one occupied by the Law Library. [9]

The first floor contains rooms for the Police Court and Justices Court, the United States Marshal's room, and the offices of the clerks of the Supreme Court, Court of Common Pleas, and Police Court. The second story contains the rooms of the United States and the Supreme Judicial Courts, as also the Law Library, the rooms for the judges of the United States and Supreme Courts, and the clerk's office of the United States Court. The upper or third story includes the Common Pleas and Municipal Court rooms and the rooms of the judges of those courts, the jury rooms of the several courts, the clerk's office and the witness rooms of the municipal court, and the grand jury room. [11]

U.S. Courthouse (at right), in former Masonic Temple, Tremont St., 1858-1885. Built 1832, demolished 1908 U.S. court house, looking up, by Bates, Joseph L., 1806 or 7-1886.jpg
U.S. Courthouse (at right), in former Masonic Temple, Tremont St., 1858-1885. Built 1832, demolished 1908

Built in the 20th century

References

  1. Martha J. McNamara. "In the Face of the Court ...": Law, Commerce, and the Transformation of Public Space in Boston, 1650-1770. Winterthur Portfolio, Vol. 36, No. 2/3 (Summer - Autumn, 2001)
  2. Davis. 1895; p.101
  3. Boston Evening Post, No. 1701 (May 2, 1768)
  4. Boston Post Boy, No. 604 (March 13, 1769)
  5. Davis. 1895; p.101-102
  6. Boston Directory. 1807
  7. Snow. History of Boston. 1828; p.376
  8. George L. Wrenn, III. The Boston City Hall, Bryant and Gilman Architects, 1862-1865. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Dec., 1962)
  9. Snow. History of Boston. 1828. Google books
  10. Snow. History of Boston. 1828; p.376
  11. Homans. Sketches of Boston, past and present. 1851. Google books
  12. Boston Directory. 1858
  13. Public acts of the 35th Congress, 1858. The statutes at large and treaties of the United States, 1855-1859, Volume 11. Boston: Little, Brown, 1859; p.268-269.
  14. Illuminated and illustrated business directory of Boston for 1870
  15. William Sidney Rossiter, ed. Days and ways in old Boston, 3rd ed. Boston: R.H. Stearns and Company, 1914
  16. "Historic Federal Courthouses | Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  17. "Contact Us". www.mass.gov. Archived from the original on July 18, 2008.
  18. "Contact Us". Archived from the original on March 18, 2009.
  19. "John W. McCormack Building, Boston, MA" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2010. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  20. "Suffolk Superior Court for Criminal Business Division of the Massachusetts Court System - Main Page". www.mass.gov. Archived from the original on April 4, 2004.
  21. "IMMIGRATION COURT - Boston, Massachusetts". Archived from the original on November 5, 2010. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  22. "Home | United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts".
  23. "Edward W. Brooke Courthouse | Dimeo Construction". Archived from the original on September 7, 2010. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  24. "Browse | News Releases | Media Relations | Boston University". Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  25. "Boston Housing Court Division of the Massachusetts Court System - Main Page". Archived from the original on April 22, 2004.
  26. AIA Guide

Further reading