There was quite a bit of fuss at Pioneer Courthouse Square yesterday. A bunch of folks got together to celebrate the 25th Birthday of Portland’s Living Room. They even had cake.
While 25 years is pretty impressive, right across the street is a building that could scoff at such a puny accomplishment. Construction on Pioneer Courthouse itself began in 1869, with occupancy beginning in 1875. It’s the oldest Federal building in the Pacific Northwest, and the second oldest Federal building west of the Mississippi River. Heck, it’s been a National Historic Landmark longer than Pioneer Courthouse Square has been in existence (since 1977).
Pioneer Courthouse in 1875 – thanks to the Oregon Historical Society
The Courthouse was designed by architect Alfred B. Mullett, who was the Supervising Architect of the Treasury from 1866 until 1874, and must have been pretty good at it. The many Federal buildings he designed include the United States Mint in San Francisco.
In 1902 a major expansion and interior remodeling of the Courthouse nearly doubled the basement and first floor and created the two wings at the second and third floors. The Courthouse housed the U.S. Post Office and U.S. District Court until 1933 when both were moved to new quarters. The Pioneer Courthouse was again renovated, ending in 1973, for use by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Another renovation, this one somewhat controversial, was undertaken in 2003. This time the post office was removed from the courthouse, five secure parking spaces were added to the basement for the Court’s judges, and seismic upgrades in the form of base isolators were installed under the building. The $23.4 million renovation was completed in 2005.
You can see a beautiful slideshow of the renovation here.
According to this article on the renovation, the careful attention to preservation of existing features throughout the courthouse was, at least in part, due to budgetary constraints:
With most of the budget taken up by earthquake proofing, the rest of the work had to be done in an extremely cost-efficient manner. As a result, adaptive reuse became the theme. For example, the original scrolled lighting fixtures were protected in place during construction and later retrofitted with energy-conserving compact fluorescent bulbs. Whole rooms were recycled into new uses, while maintaining their essential historic character. The former post office and mail sorting room became a new main entrance and expanded, state-of-the-art law library.
Although most sources online refer to the renovation being complete in 2005, if you walk downtown you can’t help but notice that the old building has been shrouded in scaffolding and plastic sheeting for what seems like years. The exterior stonework is getting reconditioned, cleaned, and patched. Lord knows what they’re doing to the cupola behind that wall….
So here’s to the grand old lady of Portland, a building that has silently watched over the city for 140 years. Thanks to her facelift, she doesn’t look a day over 70.
{ 6 comments }
I love the old photo. Great history lesson.
Interesting post…. just yesterday I wandered past the scaffolding and plastic and wondered what was up with the construction. Apparently it’s one of those Portland mysteries. We should sic The Square folks on this topic…
I miss the post office. Rumor had it the post office was removed to make room for the judges’ secure parking spaces. True? Not true? Anyone know?
I hate to be ‘that guy’ but I believe that photo is dated 1901, not 1875. At the very least it is not in the 1800’s; the background architecture is far to modern.
natronics – Sadly, it appears that you are correct. I found another image of the courthouse dated 1875 at the Oregon Historical Society. Although the photo was taken from the other side of the building, the absence of trees around the building would definitely place it earlier than the photo in question. I’ve gone ahead and swapped the photo out for the earlier one.
Wow, what a great photo. Must have been taken from the roof of Nordstroms.
I love seeing shots of Portland like this. You can see houses in the distance where tall buildings now stand. A steepled church off where it appears Hair M may be. Great find.
If you look close though, I think I see a chugger for women’s suffrage down on the corner of 5th and Yamhill asking people if they want to sign petitions…..
Comments on this entry are closed.