{"nrhp_refnum":"73001586","name":"Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"436 Grant St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.43870048800005,"lon":-79.99597136871711,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-03-07","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1976-04-11","areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A courthouse and jail complex in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, built in the 1880s to a design by Henry Hobson Richardson. The courthouse and jail are linked by an enclosed stone arch bridge and share an enclosing stone wall.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the complex is among the most magnificent and imposing works of Henry Hobson Richardson, a leading American architect. It describes the design as a marvel of good sense and architectural beauty and an important visual asset to the city. The buildings are said to remain largely unaltered and still serve their original purposes.","narrative":"Built in Pittsburgh between 1884 and 1888 to a design by Henry Hobson Richardson, the Allegheny County courthouse and jail form a single complex of Richardson Romanesque architecture. The courthouse is a hollow rectangle measuring 301 by 209 feet, with an interior courtyard, and is built of pinkish-grey Milford granite backed with brick, with red tile roofs. Its entrances are marked by broad Syrian arches and a tall tower over the Grant Street entrance. Ornament is kept flat so that soot cannot collect in ledges and crevices. The jail, completed in 1886, is an irregular cross plan with an octagonal guard tower at its center and tiers of cells in its arms. A stone arch bridge connects it to the courthouse. The jail was expanded to fill the block in 1904 to 1908. The complex is valued for its design quality and its importance to the city's architecture.","period_of_significance":"1884-1888","architect_builder":"Henry Hobson Richardson (architect)","architectural_style":"Romanesque (Richardson Romanesque)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Both buildings still serve their original purposes; the document notes talk of replacing the jail with a newer facility.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.896913-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/73001586.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001586/c43d7c3a45-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001586/c43d7c3a45-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"w_lemay","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allegheny_County_Courthouse,_Grant_Street,_Pittsburgh,_PA_-_53615220364.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">w_lemay</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allegheny_County_Courthouse,_Grant_Street,_Pittsburgh,_PA_-_53615220364.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997676","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21546286"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/allegheny-county-courthouse-and-jail-73001586/"}