The “Brutal” Wake County Courthouse

One of Raleigh’s most imposing concrete structures, the current Wake County Courthouse, seems as though it was almost designed to be intimidating. This is the sixth incarnation of a County Courthouse, with the first dating back to 1771 on a piece of land known as Bloomsbury or simply Wake Courthouse, by Joel Lane’s house.

When it was time to create a second one once the city had been established in 1792, it was decided that it would be moved into the city boundaries proper. One of the owners of the lot, James Bloodworth, stipulated along with his donation of his land that it always had to be used as a courthouse, or the ownership of the land would revert back to that of his heirs. The second courthouse was built in 1794-95 by John Conroy in

the traditional columned Greek Revival style

a traditional columned Greek style.

In 1837, they replaced the old wooden courthouse with a brick one due to Raleigh’s tendency to catch on fire and burn down. The new, slightly more fireproof version, was built by Alexander Bragg. It lasted till 1882, when it was completely remodeled by Thomas Briggs, owner of Briggs Hardware.

As Raleigh’s population continued to grow, so did the need for better courtrooms, offices, and jailing facilities, so a new building was built in 1915. The building was designed by P. Thornton Marye, who had designed several buildings around town including the City Auditorium and the Commercial National Bank building.

Once again, it was time for an expansion, so in 1968 they began Raleigh’s sixth and current day courthouse. One of Raleigh’s prime examples of Brutalist architecture (think Harrelson Hall over at State), the courthouse stands 14 stories, considerably bigger than previous versions. Brutalism is a style that is often referred to as cold and unfriendly, but maybe the whole point of using it for a courthouse is to make it so you’re scared to have to go there.

Below is the structure being built with Raleigh’s own Peden Steel.

Construction photos courtesy of the Peden Steel Collection.

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Olde Raleigh , Other posts by Ladye Jane.

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