Byron R. White United States Courthouse
Encyclopedia
The Byron White United States Courthouse is a courthouse
of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
, and later of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
. Completed between 1910 and 1916, the building, U.S. Post Office and Courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
in 1973. In 1994, it was renamed in honor of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White
(1917–2002) a native of Fort Collins, Colorado
.
of the Byron White U.S. Courthouse brought design elements popular in the eastern United States to Denver. The monumental scale and elegance expressed its official and public character, and served as inspiration for other civic buildings in the city.
By 1900, Denver was a major transportation crossroads and a significant western commercial city. The monumental 1893 U.S. Post Office was already considered outdated, leading the people of Denver to seek a new, larger building for the Post Office and Federal Courts.
Authorization for a new building was approved as early as 1903, but funds were not appropriated until 1908. In 1909, Office of the Supervising Architect
of the Treasury Department James Knox Taylor
selected New York architects Tracy, Swartwout, and Litchfield
to design Denver's new Post Office and Courthouse. It was one of only thirty-five Federal buildings built during Taylor's tenure (1883–1912) that were designed by independent architects commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department under the Tarsney Act. Passed in 1893, the Act authorized the Treasury Secretary to use private architects, selected through architectural competitions, to design Federal buildings. The Act reflected the growing demand for greater architectural standards for public buildings and opened the way for additional appropriations to maintain those standards.
Evarts Tracy (1868–1922) and Egerton Swartwout (1870–1943), graduated from Yale University and worked as draftsmen in the New York office of McKim, Mead, and White
before establishing their own firm in New York in 1900. Electus Darwin Litchfield (1872–1952), a graduate of the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and the Stevens Institute of Technology
, joined the partnership in 1908.
Construction began in 1910, but progress was slow due to insufficient funds. The initial appropriation of $1,500,000 was supplemented with an additional $400,000 as a result of Denver Postmaster Joseph H. Harrison's lobbying effort in Washington, DC. The building opened in January 1916.
Clad in Colorado Yule marble, the material used for the exterior of the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in Washington, DC, the U.S. Courthouse is set above the street on a rusticated base. A series of grand stairs lead up to the main entrance on the southeast elevation (Stout Street), which is marked by sixteen, three-story, Ionic order
columns adorned with eagles. The secondary elevations incorporate similar, but less pronounced, engaged Ionic columns. Set above the third story, a decorative band of medallions and eagles form the base of the large ornamental cornice.
The frieze
above the main entrance has city names, with cities located east of Denver inscribed to the east of the central bay and those located to the city's west inscribed to the bay's west, symbolizing the flow of mail across the country. The solid marble walls on either side of the colonnade are inscribed with the names of former U.S. Postmaster Generals. Inscriptions selected and designed by architect Evarts Tracy mark the secondary elevations of the building. The frieze facing Eighteenth Street reads "Lex Nemini Iniquum, Nemini Injuriam Facit" (Cicero, "The law causes wrong or injury to no one"), and the Nineteenth Street side reads "Nulli Negabimus, Nulli Differemus, Jutitiam" (the Magna Carta, "To no one shall we deny justice, nor shall we discriminate in its application"). Marble seats on the northeast and southwest sides of the building are inscribed, "Alternate rest and labor long endure," and "If thou desire rest, desire not too much."
The main entry lobby spans the width of the building, with windows opening out through the portico. It has a terrazzo
floor and vaulted ceiling with arches springing from the pilasters. Names of Pony Express
riders adorn the marble-faced walls. The U.S. Court of Appeals is located on the second floor along with the Law Library and a District Courtroom. The Law Library (now Courtroom Four) is clad with carved oak panels. An eagle and the inscription, "Lux et Veritas" (light and truth), crown the exit. The U.S. District Courtroom A with its arched ceiling and pink-tinged white marble walls retains its original gold-trimmed black velvet drapery in the apse behind the judge's bench.
The U.S. Courthouse is embellished with notable artwork. A pair of Indiana limestone
sculptures of Rocky Mountain sheep commissioned from Denver artist Gladys Caldwell Fisher
(1907–1952) sit at the southwest entrance. Fisher completed the sculptures, with help from two assistants, working under the Works Progress Administration in 1936. Prominent artwork within the building includes four canvas murals by Herman Schladermundt (1863–1937). The murals, Fortune Turns on Her Wheel—The Fate of Kings, Postal Service, Labor is Great Producer of Wealth, and Nil Sine Numine (Nothing Without Power), were completed in 1918 and shipped from New York.
Extensive building renovations were made in the 1950s and on into the 1960s when the U.S. Postal Service altered the lobby and first floor, constructed a concrete-block addition, demolished the Appellate Courtroom and Grand Jury Room, and removed original columns for expansion of the third floor. From 1992-1994 some of the alterations were reversed when the building was rehabilitated for use as the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
. The Appellate Courtroom and the Grand Jury Room on the third floor were reconstructed. The lobby, Ceremonial Courtroom, Courtroom Two, Courtroom Four, and District Courtroom A were restored to their original grandeur. The restoration received numerous preservation awards.
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
United States District Court for the District of Colorado
The United States District Court for the District of Colorado is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Colorado. The United States Congress organized Colorado as a single judicial district on June 26, 1876, by 19 Stat. 61...
, and later of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Colorado* District of Kansas...
. Completed between 1910 and 1916, the building, U.S. Post Office and Courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1973. In 1994, it was renamed in honor of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White
Byron White
Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White won fame both as a football halfback and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed to the court by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, he served until his retirement in 1993...
(1917–2002) a native of Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins is a Home Rule Municipality situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, and is the county seat and most populous city of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Fort Collins is located north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. With a 2010 census...
.
Building history
The grand Neo-Classical designNeoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
of the Byron White U.S. Courthouse brought design elements popular in the eastern United States to Denver. The monumental scale and elegance expressed its official and public character, and served as inspiration for other civic buildings in the city.
By 1900, Denver was a major transportation crossroads and a significant western commercial city. The monumental 1893 U.S. Post Office was already considered outdated, leading the people of Denver to seek a new, larger building for the Post Office and Federal Courts.
Authorization for a new building was approved as early as 1903, but funds were not appropriated until 1908. In 1909, Office of the Supervising Architect
Office of the Supervising Architect
The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939....
of the Treasury Department James Knox Taylor
James Knox Taylor
James Knox Taylor was Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1897 to 1912. His name is listed ex officio as supervising architect of hundreds of federal buildings built throughout the United States during the period.-Early career:The son of H...
selected New York architects Tracy, Swartwout, and Litchfield
Tracy and Swartwout
Tracy and Swartwout was a prominent New York architectural firm headed by Evarts Tracy and Egerton Swartwout. Tracy was the son of first cousins Jeremiah Evarts Tracy and Martha Sherman Greene. His paternal grandmother Martha Sherman Evarts and maternal grandmother Mary Evarts were the sisters of...
to design Denver's new Post Office and Courthouse. It was one of only thirty-five Federal buildings built during Taylor's tenure (1883–1912) that were designed by independent architects commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department under the Tarsney Act. Passed in 1893, the Act authorized the Treasury Secretary to use private architects, selected through architectural competitions, to design Federal buildings. The Act reflected the growing demand for greater architectural standards for public buildings and opened the way for additional appropriations to maintain those standards.
Evarts Tracy (1868–1922) and Egerton Swartwout (1870–1943), graduated from Yale University and worked as draftsmen in the New York office of McKim, Mead, and White
McKim, Mead, and White
McKim, Mead & White was a prominent American architectural firm at the turn of the twentieth century and in the history of American architecture. The firm's founding partners were Charles Follen McKim , William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White...
before establishing their own firm in New York in 1900. Electus Darwin Litchfield (1872–1952), a graduate of the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and the Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology is a technological university located on a campus in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA – founded in 1870 with an 1868 bequest from Edwin A. Stevens. It is known for its engineering, science, and technological management curricula.The institute has produced leading...
, joined the partnership in 1908.
Construction began in 1910, but progress was slow due to insufficient funds. The initial appropriation of $1,500,000 was supplemented with an additional $400,000 as a result of Denver Postmaster Joseph H. Harrison's lobbying effort in Washington, DC. The building opened in January 1916.
Architecture
With its monumental presence and dramatic public spaces, the courthouse is an excellent example of the Neo-Classical architecture that dominated federal building design at the turn of the twentieth century. Occupying an entire city block in downtown Denver and standing four stories in height, the building reflects the academic characteristics of the Neo-Classical style with its symmetrical design, classical details, and imposing manner.Clad in Colorado Yule marble, the material used for the exterior of the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in Washington, DC, the U.S. Courthouse is set above the street on a rusticated base. A series of grand stairs lead up to the main entrance on the southeast elevation (Stout Street), which is marked by sixteen, three-story, Ionic order
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
columns adorned with eagles. The secondary elevations incorporate similar, but less pronounced, engaged Ionic columns. Set above the third story, a decorative band of medallions and eagles form the base of the large ornamental cornice.
The frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
above the main entrance has city names, with cities located east of Denver inscribed to the east of the central bay and those located to the city's west inscribed to the bay's west, symbolizing the flow of mail across the country. The solid marble walls on either side of the colonnade are inscribed with the names of former U.S. Postmaster Generals. Inscriptions selected and designed by architect Evarts Tracy mark the secondary elevations of the building. The frieze facing Eighteenth Street reads "Lex Nemini Iniquum, Nemini Injuriam Facit" (Cicero, "The law causes wrong or injury to no one"), and the Nineteenth Street side reads "Nulli Negabimus, Nulli Differemus, Jutitiam" (the Magna Carta, "To no one shall we deny justice, nor shall we discriminate in its application"). Marble seats on the northeast and southwest sides of the building are inscribed, "Alternate rest and labor long endure," and "If thou desire rest, desire not too much."
The main entry lobby spans the width of the building, with windows opening out through the portico. It has a terrazzo
Terrazzo
Terrazzo is a composite material poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of marble, quartz, granite, glass or other suitable chips, sprinkled or unsprinkled, and poured with a binder that is cementitious, chemical or a combination of both...
floor and vaulted ceiling with arches springing from the pilasters. Names of Pony Express
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...
riders adorn the marble-faced walls. The U.S. Court of Appeals is located on the second floor along with the Law Library and a District Courtroom. The Law Library (now Courtroom Four) is clad with carved oak panels. An eagle and the inscription, "Lux et Veritas" (light and truth), crown the exit. The U.S. District Courtroom A with its arched ceiling and pink-tinged white marble walls retains its original gold-trimmed black velvet drapery in the apse behind the judge's bench.
The U.S. Courthouse is embellished with notable artwork. A pair of Indiana limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
sculptures of Rocky Mountain sheep commissioned from Denver artist Gladys Caldwell Fisher
Gladys Caldwell Fisher
Gladys Caldwell Fisher American sculptor, born in Loveland, Colorado and based in Denver. Caldwell Fisher, primarily an animalier, began the serious study of sculpture with Denver sculptor Robert Garrison at the Beaux-Arts Atelier in Denver before moving on to New York City and Paris to study...
(1907–1952) sit at the southwest entrance. Fisher completed the sculptures, with help from two assistants, working under the Works Progress Administration in 1936. Prominent artwork within the building includes four canvas murals by Herman Schladermundt (1863–1937). The murals, Fortune Turns on Her Wheel—The Fate of Kings, Postal Service, Labor is Great Producer of Wealth, and Nil Sine Numine (Nothing Without Power), were completed in 1918 and shipped from New York.
Extensive building renovations were made in the 1950s and on into the 1960s when the U.S. Postal Service altered the lobby and first floor, constructed a concrete-block addition, demolished the Appellate Courtroom and Grand Jury Room, and removed original columns for expansion of the third floor. From 1992-1994 some of the alterations were reversed when the building was rehabilitated for use as the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Colorado* District of Kansas...
. The Appellate Courtroom and the Grand Jury Room on the third floor were reconstructed. The lobby, Ceremonial Courtroom, Courtroom Two, Courtroom Four, and District Courtroom A were restored to their original grandeur. The restoration received numerous preservation awards.
Significant events
- 1893: Passage of the Tarsney ActJohn Charles TarsneyJohn Charles Tarsney was a politician from the U.S. state of Missouri.One of Tarsney's most long lasting contributions was the "Tarsney Act" which permitted private architects to design federal buildings after being selected in a competition under the supervision of Supervising Architect of the...
permits the Federal Government to hire private architects through competitions. - 1908-1909: Funds are appropriated and a site purchased for a new Federal building; the New York firm of Tracy, Swartwout and Litchfield designs the U.S. Post Office and Federal Building.
- 1910-1916: The U.S. Post Office and Federal Building is constructed.
- 1918: Four canvas lobby murals by Herman Schladermundt of New York are installed.
- 1936:Stone sculptures of Rocky Mountain sheep by artist Gladys Caldwell Fisher are installed.
- 1950s: Extensive system modifications are made to the building; the third floor is expanded and the fourth floor altered for new courtrooms.
- 1962-1966: The U.S. Postal Service controls building and undertakes substantive alterations for its own use.
- 1973: The U.S. Post Office and Federal Building is listed in National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. - 1992-1994: U.S. General Services Administration undertakes an extensive renovation/ restoration of the building.
- 1994: The building is renamed and dedicated as the Byron White United States Courthouse.
- 1994-1997: Preservation of the Byron White United States Courthouse is recognized by numerous preservation awards.
Building facts
- Architects: Tracy, Swartwout, and Litchfield
- Construction Dates: 1910-1916
- Landmark Status: Listed in the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
- Location: 1823 Stout Street
- Architectural Style: Neo-Classical
- Primary Materials: Yule Company Colorado marble with Indiana limestone
- Prominent Features: Exterior Colonnade; Rocky Mountain sheep sculptures by Gladys Caldwell; Fisher murals by Herman Schladermundt