Johnson County Justice Center, Buffalo Wyoming

This is the Johnson County Justice Center in Buffalo Wyoming. This structure replaced the old Johnson County Courthouse that was in use up until recently.

Holscher's Hub: Blog Mirror: Heritage Calling: 10 Tips for Archi...

Holscher's Hub: Blog Mirror: Heritage Calling: 10 Tips for Archi...: 10 Tips for Architectural Photography.

State Capitol, Cheyenne Wyoming

 

This is the State Capitol building in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  While I didn't realize it at the time that I took this photograph, the State Capitol contains a courtroom which was used by the Wyoming Supreme Court up until it had a courthouse of its own.  The courtroom is soon to be restored.

 

State Capitol as viewed from the street.  The current Wyoming Supreme Court building would be off to the right in this photograph.

City and County Building, Cheyenne Wyoming

This is the old City and County Building in Cheyenne Wyoming which, at one time, housed all of the offices of the City of Cheyenne and Laramie County, including the courts.

This building has been partially replaced by the Laramie County Government Complex, which physically adjoins it.

This Federal style Classical Revival building was built completed in 1919.  A better view of the building would be from its front, rather than the sides as depicted, which would show its classic columns, but under the constraints of time when this photograph was taken, that couldn't be done.

Laramie County Government Complex, Cheyenne Wyoming

 Laramie County government complex

This is the Laramie County government complex, which houses the District and Circuit courts of the 1st Judicial District. This fairly new building is quite modern in design and appearance.

Old Wyoming State Penitentiary, Rawlins Wyoming.

This may seem like sort of an odd entry for this blog, but it really should come as no surprise.  The penitentiary is part of the judicial system, and therefore it has a place on a blog that's dedicated to judicial buildings.

This particular penitentiary is the old Wyoming State Penitentiary, the second penitentiary the state had. The first one was located in Laramie Wyoming in territorial days. That building is still there, and is used as a museum. When I went to the University of Wyoming, it was the sheep barn.

This one, the second penitentiary, is located in Rawlins Wyoming.  It's also a museum, as it has been replaced by a new, more modern, penitentiary also located near Rawlins.

I don't know if court was ever held inside the penitentiary.  I doubt it. But it does serve to remember that institutions like this are part of the judicial system.

Old Anchorage City Hall, Anchorage Alaska

Once the largest building in Anchorage, albeit only very briefly, this city hall held all the municipal offices from 1936 until some date in the 1970s.  

A fairly substantial building, it provides additional evidence of how surprisingly busy Anchorage was during the 1930s.

Federal Building, Anchorage Alaska

This is the Federal Building in Anchorage Alaska, which was built in 1941.  The Art Deco style building is very substantial, and the building is one of several in Anchorage which show the extent of development in the city in the 1930s and 1940s.  It was, and is, a very modern building for the port city, which might surprise those who wouldn't have expected this type of architecture and development for Anchorage in this, pre oil development, era.

The courtroom was, and is, a prominent feature of the building.

Natrona County Courthouses from the air.

Natrona County's courthouses from the air, as viewed from a Ford Tri Motor.  The classic old courthouse is in the upper middle of the photograph, but the Townsend Justice Center and the Hall of Justice are also visible.  The Federal Courthouse is not visible, however.

Old Sweetwater County Courthouse, Green River Wyoming

This is the old Sweetwater County Courthouse in Green River Wyoming. This courthouse, built in 1906, is on the same block as the new courthouse that replaced it. Fortunately, this attractive original courthouse was preserved when the new one was built.  I don't know what use this courthouse serves today.

Sweetwater County Courthouse, Green River, Wyoming.

This is the current courthouse in Green River, Sweetwater County, Wyoming.  This modern style courthouse houses Wyoming's Third Judicial District.  I'm unsure of the vintage of this courthouse, but my guess would be that it was built in the 1960s or 1970s.

Holscher's Hub: Carlisle County Courthouse, Carlisle Pennsylvania

Holscher's Hub: Carlisle County Courthouse, Carlisle Pennsylvania

Now these (and I have to admit the recent photos of the Old Courthouse in Toronto) are not western courthouses at all, but eastern ones, including one very old eastern one. They're posted here, however to demonstrate the appearance of eastern courthouses and how they influenced the latter ones of the West, or not.

The first is the Carlisle County Courthouse in Carlisle Pennsylvania.  This Federal style courthouse strongly resembles those built by the Federal government everywhere in the 1930s.  This isn't a Federal courthouse, but its style shows up in the West quite a bit.

Carlisle County Courthouse, Carlisle Pennsylvania

The second is the Old Courthouse, across the street from the one above. This one is quite old, having been built in 1846, and is of another style.  I've never seen this style used in the West.

Old Courthouse, Cumberland County Pennsylvania

On This Day in Wyoming History… 1915: The Wyoming State Bar Association Created | Wyoming Postscripts

On This Day in Wyoming History… 1915: The Wyoming State Bar Association Created | Wyoming Postscripts

Toronto Ontario Old Town Hall and York County Courthouse, Toronto Ontario

This is the Toronto Old City Hall and York County Courthouse, a massive structure in downtown Toronto that was built to hold a court, and which still does even though many of its other original functions are no longer carried on in this building.  I'm uncertain of the current jurisdiction of the court, although there is a listing for it under Ontario Court of Justice on a non governmental website.

This very large structure took a decade to build, having been started in 1889, and completed in 1899.

As with a similar entry on the Churches of the West blog, a person can take exception to my having listed this courthouse here, as its not really in the West.  Nonetheless, at the time in which it was built, 1899, Toronto retained a bit of a western feel, as much of Canada did at that time.