State of Oregon Law Library Legal Research Blog

 

On March 4th, 2020, the Oregon Supreme Court and Library Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Thanks to Justice Thomas Balmer and the Henneberry Eddy Architects, future generations will enjoy the building’s history and architecture. Well, they will once it’s renovated and we return from our temporary home on Broadway Street. 

 

Joining the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon takes around a year from start to finish. Interested property owners reach out to the State Historic Preservation Office. From there, committee members from a variety of disciplines – “history, archaeology, architecture, architectural history and a Native American culture” – review application materials and decide whether to recommend it for listing on the National Register. Then the Keeper of the National Register makes the final decision. 

 

In this case, the Oregon Supreme Court and Library Building’s importance to state history, combined with its stunning architecture earned it a spot on the National Register. 

 

 

Building the Supreme Court and Library Building in the first place took some persuasion. Originally, the judicial branch operated in the 1876 Capitol – hidden away on the third floor. But as the population increased, so did the Supreme Court justices’ caseload. Between 1909 and 1913, the number of justices increased from five to seven. Staff and justices demanded more room, and eventually, the legislature determined the courts needed their own building. 

 

Fire shaped the new buildings’ design and ultimate importance. Remembering the fate of the first territorial capitol, which burned in 1855 and destroyed most government records, the planning board demanded it be fireproof. To that end, the architect – William Knighton – chose glazed terra cotta bricks and steel as building materials. Completed in 1914, the Supreme Court and Library Building held the Supreme Court, the state printing press, state library, and the Oregon Supreme Court Library (changed to SOLL in 2001).

 

After a fire destroyed the capital in 1935, the Oregon Supreme Court and Library Building became the oldest remaining civic building on the Capitol Mall. Although the structure of the Judicial Branch continued changing – the Tax Court and Court of Appeals were created in 1961 and 1969 respectively – the building continuously housed the Oregon Supreme Court and State of Oregon Law Library until 2019, when the two moved for seismic renovations. Almost every justice has literally left their mark on the building, scratching their names into the bench’s drawer. 

 

 

One of the ways a building qualifies for the National Register of Historic Places is its architecture. An eligible building “represents the work of a master.” The building’s architect, William Christmas Knighton, was a master. Oregon’s first and only State Architect, he designed the Supreme Court building and worked on "more than ninety buildings, including the Eastern Oregon State Hospital (1911) in Pendleton... Johnson Hall at the University of Oregon (1915), and buildings at the State Institution for the Feeble-Minded (Fairview Training Center, 1914) in Salem." After leaving the position, he collaborated with Leslie Howell and began creating more modern designs. Knighton's buildings span a variety of architectural styles, and over twenty of his buildings are listed on the National Register. 

 

Here are just a few of his designs:

 

Knighton chose a combination of the Classical Revival and Beaux Arts style for the Oregon Supreme Court and Library Building, making it one of his more classical designs. Most of Knighton's work, aside from his time as State Architect, dealt with either home design or "experimental designs in modernism."

 

The Beaux Arts style developed in France and became popular in the United States in the early 1900s. Meanwhile, Classical Revival sought to evoke Roman and Greek buildings and temples, but tended to be less decorative than the Beaux Arts Style. The styles' classical influence combined with its “heaviness” made it an obvious choice for government buildings -- it signals permanence and evokes the power and ideals of the Romans and Greeks. Let’s examine a few of the characteristics of Beaux Arts and Classical Revival that the Oregon Supreme Court and Library Building demonstrates -- little did you know that this is an art history lesson in disguise!

 

 

Detailed, decorative moldings and facades define the Beaux Arts style. Knighton had a particular fondness for shields, as you can see in the photograph above.

 

 

Entering the Supreme Court and Library Building, the stairway dominates your view -- another characteristic of Beaux Arts Architecture. 

 

 

The front and inside of the building are symmetric -- typical of both Classical Revival and Beaux Arts. The rounded entrance signals further Beaux Arts influence. Knighton's drew on Classical Revival with the "Roman lettering relief" at the top of the building, combined with the engaged, ionic order columns.

 

 

 

Ionic order columns are simple decorations at the top of a column -- a pair of "curly-qs" on either side. Engaged colonnades mean that the columns are set into the wall, rather than free-standing. 

 

 

Knighton designed the Supreme Court and Library Building to last a 100 years -- it has survived 106 years. Joining the National Register of Historic Places will help ensure it survives into the future. As Justice Balmer put it, "Historic designation requires extra steps before people make any changes and that was intentional.... We decided, on balance, that this was an important enough building to maintain the original design by William Knighton, and we want those who come after us to take that into consideration before they make any future changes."

 

Further Reading: