Marquette County Courthouse

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Marquette County Courthouse
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Marquette County Courthouse
Interactive map showing the location for Marquette County Courthouse
Location400 South 3rd Street, Marquette, Michigan
Coordinates 46°32′30″N87°23′47″W / 46.54167°N 87.39639°W / 46.54167; -87.39639
Arealess than 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1904
Built byNorthern Construction Co.
ArchitectCharlton, Gilbert & Kuenzli
Architectural styleClassical Revival
NRHP reference No. 78001506 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMarch 29, 1978
Designated MSHSAugust 6, 1976 [2]

The Marquette County Courthouse is a government building located at 234 West Baraga Ave in Marquette, Michigan. It designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1976 [2] and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. [1] The courthouse was the setting of the 1959 film Anatomy of a Murder , directed by Otto Preminger.

Contents

History

In 1857, the first Marquette County courthouse, a wooden Greek Revival structure, was built on this site. [3] By the turn of the century, that structure had become inadequate. In 1902, voters approved the issuance of $120,000 worth of bonds to construct a new courthouse. The earlier structure was moved off the site, and the county hired Marquette architect D. Fred Charlton (Charlton, Gilbert & Demar/Charlton & Kuenzli) to design the new building. Northern Construction Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was hired to construct the building. [4] The county eventually spent $240,000 to complete the structure; it was completed in 1904. [3]

The courthouse was the site of a famous 1913 libel case, where President Theodore Roosevelt won a judgment against Ishpeming newspaper publisher George Newett. [2] Roosevelt was awarded six cents, "the price of a good newspaper." Another later case tried here inspired John D. Voelker's novel, Anatomy of a Murder . The 1959 movie version of the novel, directed by Otto Preminger, was filmed in the courthouse. [2]

In 1982–84, the courthouse was renovated at a cost of $2.4 million. [2] A new courthouse and jail were built nearby, connected by a tunnel, but the 1904 building remains in use. [2]

Architecture and design

The Marquette County Courthouse is a Beaux-Arts and Neoclassical structure, with a central three-story mass flanked by two-story wings. [3] It is built almost entirely of local sandstone over a steel frame. [2] A colossal portico covers the entrance, lined with 23-foot (7.0 m) granite Doric columns from Maine. [4] A Doric entablature with copper cornice rings the roofline. A copper dome surmounts the building, and sits above the second-floor courtroom. [3]

Inside, the courtroom is finished with mahogany and marble. Mosaic tiles, wool carpeting, and stained glass fill the building. [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Marquette County Courthouse". Historic Sites Online. Michigan State Housing Development Authority. Archived from the original on December 24, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Eckert, Kathryn Bishop (2000), The sandstone architecture of the Lake Superior region, Detroit: Wayne State University Press, pp. 131–2, ISBN   0-8143-2807-5
  4. 1 2 3 Fedynsky, John (2010), Michigan's County Courthouses, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, pp. 116–7, ISBN   978-0-472-11728-4
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