Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail
Name of Building
Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail
Town or City, Country where the building was originally established
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date the building was designed and/or first built
Begun: 1883
Completed: 1888
Name of Architect, Builder, or Primary Patron Responsible
Henry Hobson Richardson
Geo-Location
40.43891834558286, -79.99591541049709
Materials
granite (rock), glass
Size and/or Scale of Building
5 stories tall
Architectural Type
Public
Formal Style
Richardsonian Romanesque
Building Description
The Structure is very symmetrical, It is a simple rectangle viewed from above. In addition, it has a singular piece that extends beyond its standard quadratic form in what appears to be a clock tower. It does have an iconic element featuring a central courtyard in the middle of the structure. This courtyard is closed off from the outside, and one would reach it by going through the building. The building’s height reaches up to 250 ft. In addition it has 5 levels. You can enter through multiple entrances and exits. What appears to be the main entrance is off the left side of the courthouse, once more viewing the structure from above. From here you can eventually move into a main corridor where you can see the several levels above. There are also specified parts of the building for the jail and the courthouse respectively. The construction method and materials again help make the case for the Richardsonian Romanesque movement! Here with the large subjects with pointed pyramid, and coned roofs. In addition, the subject of arches rears its usage again. For the materials, once again using that granite material as its exterior and glass for the windows, exemplifies the Richardsonian style! This, in addition to the Trinity, helped define Richardson’s architectural style. The structure is also the second most “modeled after” building after Independence Hall.
Image source
Image 1: Creative Commons
Creative Commons or other copyright information
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Courtyard%2C_Allegheny_County_Courthouse%2C_Grant_Street%2C_Pittsburgh%2C_PA.jpg
Drawing 1: Creative Commons
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Allegheny_County_Buildings%2C_Pittsburgh_%28from_Henry_Hobson_Richardson_and_His_Works.jpg
Student First and Last Name
Julian Forster
Bibliographic references for the item
Lu Donnelly et al., "Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail", [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-01-AL1.
Citation
Henry Hobson Richardson, “Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail,” World Architecture, accessed June 28, 2026, https://worldarchitecture.artinterp2.org/items/show/248.
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