Hampden County Courthouse
Encyclopedia
Hampden County
Courthouse is a historic courthouse on Elm Street in Springfield, Massachusetts
designed by Henry Hobson Richardson
. This was the county's second courthouse. The first courthouse was built in 1822, but by the 1860s, popular pressure was developing for a new courthouse. A grand jury
indicted
the county commissioners in 1869 for official misconduct since the courthouse did not have fireproof storage for the registry of deed
s and the safekeeping of public records. This forced the county to build a new courthouse.
Construction began in late 1871, and the building was dedicated on April 28, 1874. The original building cost $214,068. The site, within the middle of a city block and measuring 160 by 90 feet, cost $75,716. The building is shaped roughly like the capital letter I
, with the main facade
emphasizing vertical lines, tall windows, and two tall dormers on either side of the bell tower. The facades were built of light gray Monson
granite in rough-faced random ashlar
masonry, with smooth-faced trim. The overall design reflects Richardson's evolution as a designer, showing development from the Brattle Square Church.
The county's growth eventually pushed the probate court and registry of deeds into another building in 1907, and the county built a large addition to the building between 1908 and 1912. This was designed by Richardson's successor firm Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge
. The sloping roof and high dormers were eliminated in the remodeling, making it difficult to visualize some parts of Richardson's original design.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1972. Today, it houses the juvenile and housing courts.
Hampden County, Massachusetts
-Demographics:As of the census of 2004, there were 461,228 people, 175,288 households, and 115,690 families residing in the county. The population density was 738 people per square mile . There were 185,876 housing units at an average density of 301 per square mile...
Courthouse is a historic courthouse on Elm Street in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
designed by Henry Hobson Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect who designed buildings in Albany, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and other cities. The style he popularized is named for him: Richardsonian Romanesque...
. This was the county's second courthouse. The first courthouse was built in 1822, but by the 1860s, popular pressure was developing for a new courthouse. A grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
indicted
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
the county commissioners in 1869 for official misconduct since the courthouse did not have fireproof storage for the registry of deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
s and the safekeeping of public records. This forced the county to build a new courthouse.
Construction began in late 1871, and the building was dedicated on April 28, 1874. The original building cost $214,068. The site, within the middle of a city block and measuring 160 by 90 feet, cost $75,716. The building is shaped roughly like the capital letter I
I
I is the ninth letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-History:In Semitic, the letter may have originated in a hieroglyph for an arm that represented a voiced pharyngeal fricative in Egyptian, but was reassigned to by Semites, because their word for "arm" began with that sound...
, with the main facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
emphasizing vertical lines, tall windows, and two tall dormers on either side of the bell tower. The facades were built of light gray Monson
Monson, Massachusetts
Monson is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,560 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.The village of Monson Center lies at the center of the town....
granite in rough-faced random ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
masonry, with smooth-faced trim. The overall design reflects Richardson's evolution as a designer, showing development from the Brattle Square Church.
The county's growth eventually pushed the probate court and registry of deeds into another building in 1907, and the county built a large addition to the building between 1908 and 1912. This was designed by Richardson's successor firm Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge
Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge
Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge was a successful architecture firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, operating between 1886 and 1915, with extensive commissions in monumental civic and collegiate architecture in the spirit and style of Henry Hobson Richardson....
. The sloping roof and high dormers were eliminated in the remodeling, making it difficult to visualize some parts of Richardson's original design.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1972. Today, it houses the juvenile and housing courts.