The Frontenac County Court House in Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 is the Courthouse

Courthouse

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...

 for Frontenac County, Ontario

Frontenac County, Ontario

Frontenac County, as defined by Statistics Canada, is a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario. The City of Kingston is included in the census division, but is politically separated from the County of Frontenac. It has a land...

. The Neoclassical

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

 building was designed by Edward Horsey and constructed by builders Scobell and Tossell. Alternation after 1874 fire by John Power added the dome tower. It overlooks City Park to its south, and Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...

 beyond. The front of the structure features the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom

Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom

The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom is the official coat of arms of the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. These arms are used by the Queen in her official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom, and are officially known as her Arms of Dominion...

.

History

The building was constructed between 1855 and 1858 as a judicial and administrative complex (with a jail in the rear), originally intended to house the Parliament of Canada

Parliament of Canada

The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

 when it was planned that Kingston would be the Capital of Canada. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980.

Interior

Pre-1963 changes the Court House was home to Court of Queen's Bench and administrative offices for the joint counties of Frotenac, Lennox and Addington from 1865-1998:

2nd floor

• Judge's room
• Council Chambers
• Jury Room
• Court Rooms (2)
• Barristers room
• Library
• Rest soom

Main

• offices of the county sherriff, county clerk and county engineer
• judge's office
• judges chambers
• Surrogate court room
• exam room
• treasuer's office
• committee room
• vaults
• public offices

Since 1963 many rooms have been altered, including loss of one court room on the second floor.

The court no longer sits at the building, now relocated to the Macdonald Cartier Building.

External links

• High resolution (1.7Gpx) exterior photo
• 360-degree panorama