Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-11-20
NEW COURT HOUSE
AT Washington Pa, One Of The Finest In
the Country Cost $750, 600.

dedicate for it's Court House, one of
the finest buildings in the country.
The attention of the Commissioners of
our own county was called to this
magnificent new building when it was
first voted that we should have a new
Court House. However the people of
our county were unwilling to put such
pile of money into Court House as
the people of Washington County,
Pennsylvania. The following is des-
cription of that fine structure.
The new building stands on the cor
ner of Main and Beau streets, in the
center of the business portion of the
town, and is constructed in the Italian
renaissance style of architecture.
street of 1873 feet, with depth of 108
feet on Beau street. lC is surmounted
by dome which can be seen for many
miles, the top of which is 2Uo feet from
the pavement. The main building eX-
tends 10S feet from east to west, the
area under the dome and the semi-ro-
tunda being in the rear
From the north and south sides ex-
tend the main wings From the north
east, northwest, southeast and south
west corners extend secondary wings.
The building has three entrances, the
main one on Main street, one on Beau
street and the third on Cherry street.
The general plan of the structure
has been adopted from the court
buildings of the old world and the
capitol at Washington, d. c., and the
arrangements are modern and up-to-
date in every respect. 1T is construct
ed principally of Columbia sandstone
and South Carolina granite, Is entire
ly fireproof and contains "a rooms.
The main entrance to the building
is reached by flight of eight granite
steps, which terminate in white mar
BILE platform. The other entrances are
very similar. Massive doors of ma
hogany open into the marble-lined
corridors, from which the various
rooms open. The dome is composed
entirely Of terra-cotta work, and is
surmounted by terra-cotta statue of
George Washington, 1S feet in height.
On either side of the main building
are square buttresses, on which rest
terra-cotta groups representing Jus
tice" and Liberty"
WAS DESIGNED FOR BUSINESS.
The interior decorations are excep-
tionally beautiful, and every thing is
we'll adapted for the proper transac-
tion of legal business. Including the
structure, all of which are made easy
of access by wide flights of stairs and
large elevator opening out of the
main corridor. On the basement floor
are located the offices of the coroner
county surveyor and county school
superintendent. In addition to these
is a large semi-circular room, with a
seating capacity of about 500, which
will be used as a public meeting room.
On the first floor to the right of the
entrance are situated the offices of the
| prothonotary, clerk of courts and the
offices of the county commissioners.
In the rear are the offices of the county
treasurer On the left side of the main
entrance are the offices of the register,
the recorder and the sheriff.
On the second floor are situated the
two principal court rooms, one in each
wing of the building and both open
ing into the main corridor. Both
court rooms are very similar, the only
difference being that the woodwork in
No. is of oak, while that of No 2 is
of mahogany.
The court rooms are 60 feet long and
40 feet wide, with height of 80 feet
The floors are laid with marble tiles
and the carvings and various decora-
tions are magnificent. Court room No.
l3, which will be used as the Orphans
court, is placed in the rear of the
building and is similar in architecture
and constructor to the other court
rooms. 1t is semi-circular in shape
and is A feet wide, 80 feet long and
IS feet high.
In addition to the three court rooms
there are on the second floor the jury
rooms and other auxiliary rooms, be-
sides the offices of the district attor-
ney. The court library is aso situated
on this floor, and has a sufficient shelly
ing to store many thousands of books.
On the third floor are the quarters of
the Washington County Bar associa-
ton and suite of rooms that will be
used by the Historical society.
The new court house will be heated
entirely with hot air, and a modern
heating plant complete in every detail
has been installed. In the rear of the
basement has been placed a large heat
er, the hot air from which will be
forced to all parts of the building by
two large fans each 10 feet in diameter
and each operated by SO horsepower
engine.
The building will be lighted by cleo