U.S. Courthouse

Last crawled date: 11 months, 3 weeks ago

From the U.S. General Services Administration National Register of Historic Places -- Architect: Wetmore, James A., 1930 Architectural Description: The U.S. District Court, 421 Gold Avenue, is a 6-story government building with Southwestern motifs used throughout the exterior detailing. The building is 74' wide and 122' deep in a rectangular plan occupying approximately 1/4 city block. In elevation, the first 2 floors are terra cotta on a tan sandstone base with smooth/honed finish; the 3rd-6th floors are a textured brick with shades varying from buff to amberrusset. The main entry is on the South facade featuring a central 2-story arched opening with an 18' sandstone surround. Side panels inside the archway are terra cotta framed sandstone panels and a bronze store-front type entry is recessed about 2'. Decorative detailing consists of the archway, an 8' mold band of terra cotta above the base, terra cotta petroglyphs randomly placed in the terra cotta surface, textured (multi-colored) brick laid in alternating patterns of 2 header courses and 4 stretcher courses. Sixth floor windows generally are in arched pairs separated by a black marble engaged pilaster approximately the same height as the window and terminated with a terra cotta capital and base.