Look to your right for a massive structure of rough-cut granite blocks, featuring a steep red tile roof and a towering five-story stone spire reaching into the sky. Welcome to the Allegheny County Courthouse, a true architectural masterpiece.
When Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson finished designing this complex in the 1880s, he called it his great achievement. And you can completely see why. It is one of the finest examples of Romanesque Revival architecture in the country. If that term is new to you, Romanesque Revival is a style known for heavy, stable appearances, using wide arches and thick, rusticated stone. Rusticated just means the granite blocks were left with a rough, natural-looking texture instead of being polished smooth.
But this is actually the third courthouse to stand in Pittsburgh. The second one sat right on this very spot, on Grant's Hill. It was a beautiful Greek Revival building, a style inspired by ancient temples, made of polished gray sandstone, but it had a fatal enemy... Pittsburgh's infamous coal smoke. The corrosive smoke literally ate away at the stone facade until the heavy stone cornices started dropping right off the building. Then, a massive fire finished the job in May of 1882.
When Richardson won the competition to build the replacement, he wanted a space that felt dignified but also breathable. Take a look at your screen to see what I mean. He built the courthouse around a stunning interior courtyard, which allowed fresh air and natural sunlight to pour into almost every room.
There is a really funny quirk about the entrance, though. In the 1900s, the city decided to lower the street level in front of the building as part of a massive re-grading project. Richardson actually anticipated this, so he buried finished masonry underground, knowing it would eventually be exposed. A grand stairway was added to reach his original ceremonial entrance, but during a street widening project in the 1930s, those stairs were ripped out. So today, visitors actually enter the building through low corridors that used to be the basement.
If you walk around to the Ross Street side of the complex, you will spot an enclosed stone walkway arching over the street. Check your app for a great view of it. That is the Bridge of Sighs, modeled directly after the famous bridge in Venice. It connects the courthouse to the former county jail. The jail itself is fascinating. In the 1990s, instead of tearing it down, the county spent twenty five million dollars transforming the old cell blocks and rotunda into the Family Court division, a brilliant piece of historic preservation.
The building is so incredibly cinematic that Hollywood loves it, using it as a backdrop for movies like Hoffa and Striking Distance. If you want to peek inside at the stunning 1930s murals by Vincent Nesbert, the building is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, though it is closed on weekends. Catch your breath, and follow your map to the final stop.
