{"nrhp_refnum":"84000281","name":"Cook County Criminal Court Building","other_names":["Board of Health Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"54 W. Hubbard St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.890197138000076,"lon":-87.63021804199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-11-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Law","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-story Romanesque Revival public building at 54 West Hubbard Street, just north of the Chicago River in Chicago, rebuilt in 1892 as the Cook County Criminal Court Building and designed by Otto H. Matz.","why_significant":"The building and its site hosted major trials and events, including the Haymarket Trial, the Leopold and Loeb case, and earlier public assemblies at North Market Hall. It is also a rare surviving example of Romanesque Revival public architecture in Chicago and a rare surviving work of architect Otto H. Matz. Its original plan, with small courtrooms, reflected judicial reform.","narrative":"Rising six stories in rusticated limestone just north of the Chicago River, this Romanesque Revival building at 54 West Hubbard Street was completed in 1892 to a design by Otto H. Matz. A deep arched entry with carved figures representing law and justice, corner tourelles and arcaded upper windows give it a monumental presence. The site has a long civic past: North Market Hall stood here from 1851 until the Great Fire, and an earlier courthouse hosted the 1886 Haymarket Trial. The present building held the 1924 Leopold and Loeb case and the trial of \"Terrible Tommy\" O'Connor. Its original plan limited courtrooms to about 100 spectators, a reform aimed at preventing crowd influence. The Criminal Court moved out in 1929, and the building was remodelled for offices by the Works Progress Administration, later housing the Board of Health. It was listed for its legal and political associations and as a rare surviving Chicago example of the style and of Matz's work.","period_of_significance":"1892","architect_builder":"Otto H. Matz, Architect","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Presently vacant in anticipation of sale by the City; formerly used as Chicago Board of Health headquarters (1939-1966) and by various city agencies.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.764715-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/8924/28892444/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/84000281.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000281/05a88a7aa8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000281/05a88a7aa8-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Harold Allen, photographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Criminal_Courts_Building,_54_West_Hubbard_Street,_Chicago_(Cook_County,_Illinois).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Harold Allen, photographer</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Criminal_Courts_Building,_54_West_Hubbard_Street,_Chicago_(Cook_County,_Illinois).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892444","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courthouse_Place","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3001513"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/cook-county-criminal-court-building-84000281/"}