Built in the 17th-18th century

• First Town-House, Boston
  First Town-House, Boston
  The First Town-House in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony was located on the site of the Old State House and served as Boston's first purpose-built town hall and colonial government seat....
  
  , built 1658. "The first Boston town house, constructed of wood on the site of the market-place, defined the town's political, social, and economic center by housing the colonial government, law courts, markets, and militia musters."

• State House, built 1713, on the site of the former Town-House This building still exists as the "Old State House," State Street

• Court house, built 1773, Queen Street. "In 1773 a new court house was built of brick in Court Street. ... Municipal Court continued to be held ... until June 20, 1822." By 1807 some disliked its features: "The County Court-House in Court street is by no means an ornament to the town; it is small, inconvenient, and exposed to the noise of a very busy street. ... In the court-house are kept the probate-office and registry of deeds for the county." Alternately, historian Caleb Snow describes it in 1828 more favorably: "The Old Court House on the south side of Court-street, is a handsome building of brick, three stories high, and has on the roof an octagon copula. On the lower floor are the offices of the United States District Marshall, and several private offices. In the second story, the floor of which is supported by pillars of the Tuscan order, are held the Circuit and District Courts of the U.S. for the Massachusetts District, and the office of the District Clerk. In the third story are convenient rooms for jurors, etc. This building, before the erection of the New Court House [in 1810] ... was used by all the courts of law held in the county."

Built in the 19th century

• Suffolk County Courthouse, also called Johnson Hall; built 1810 by Charles Bulfinch
  Charles Bulfinch
  Charles Bulfinch was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first native-born American to practice architecture as a profession....
  
  , School Street, Boston. Functioned as county court (1810-1841) and U.S. court (1810-1836). "Remodeled for use as a city hall by [Gridley J.F.] Bryant
  Gridley James Fox Bryant
  Gridley James Fox Bryant was a famous 19th century Boston architect and builder. His work was seen in custom houses, government buildings, churches, schoolhouses, and private residences across the United States.Bryant was born to Marcia Winship Fox and Gridley Bryant, noted railway pioneer...
  
  , 1840-1841. Demolished 1863."

"The Stone Court-House in Court-Square, to which for distinction's sake we have given the name of Johnson Hall ... (with reference to the memory of lsaac Johnson esq. ... a chief patron of the first settlers of Boston ...) was built in 1810. lt is described as consisting of an octagon centre, 55 ft. wide, with two wings, 26 by 40 feet, connected by the entrance and passages to the centre. The length of the whole building is 140 ft. The lower story of the centre is improved by the Register of Deeds, and Clerk of the C.C.P. -— the second story by the County Courts, and the upper by the Common Council of the city. The Mayor and Aldermen's room is in the upper story of the western wing; under that are the offices of the Auditor and City Marshal, and on the lower floor the Probate Office. ln the eastern wing are the offices of the Clerk of the S.J. Court, rooms for the judges and for the juries, and one occupied by the Law Library."

• Municipal Court House, built 1822, Leverett Street

• Court house, built 1836, Court Square. Housed municipal court beginning in 1837.

"The first floor contains rooms for the Police Court and Justices Court, the United States Marshal's room, and the offices of the clerks of the Supreme Court, Court of Common Pleas, and Police Court. The second story contains the rooms of the United States and the Supreme Judicial Courts, as also the Law Library, the rooms for the judges of the United States and Supreme Courts, and the clerk's office of the United States Court. The upper or third story includes the Common Pleas and Municipal Court rooms and the rooms of the judges of those courts, the jury rooms of the several courts, the clerk's office and the witness rooms of the municipal court, and the grand jury room."

• U.S. Court House, Bowdoin Square
  Bowdoin Square (Boston)
  Bowdoin Square in Boston, Massachusetts was located in the West End. In the 18th-19th centuries it featured residential houses, leafy trees, a church, hotel, theatre and other buildings. Among the notables who have lived in the square: physician Thomas Bulfinch; merchant Kirk Boott; and mayor...
  
  ; used ca.1858.

• Masonic Temple, corner Tremont Street and Temple Place; used as U.S. federal court, 1858-1885. Built 1832. "The building was sold to the U.S. government for $105,000 for use as a federal courthouse in 1858." "The federal government in 1885 sold the building at acution." In 1886 R.H. Stearns & Co. moved in to the "remodeled building. ...[It] continued as their place of business until 1908, when it was completely torn down."

• U.S. Post Office and Subtreasury, built 1885. Alfred B. Mullett, supervising architect. "The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts met here ... [1883- 1929]; the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts met here from 1883, prior to completion, until that court was abolished in 1912. Razed in 1929."

• John Adams Courthouse, built 1893, Pemberton Square
  Pemberton Square (Boston)
  Pemberton Square in the Government Center area of Boston, Massachusetts, was developed by P.T. Jackson in 1835 as an architecturally uniform mixed-use enclave surrounding a small park. In the mid-19th century both private residences and businesses dwelt there...
  
  . Designed by George Albert Clough
  George Albert Clough
  George Asa Clough was an architect in Boston, Massachusetts in the later 19th-century. He designed the Suffolk County Courthouse in Pemberton Square, and numerous other buildings in the city and around New England. Born in Blue Hill, Maine, Clough trained as an architect at the firm of Snell &...
  
  . Functioned as Suffolk County Courthouse ca.1893. Currently houses the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
  The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The SJC has the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Western Hemisphere.-History:...
  
   and the Massachusetts Appeals Court

Built in the 20th century

• John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse, built 1933, also known as the John W. McCormack Federal Building, 5 Post Office Square
  Post Office Square, Boston, Massachusetts
  Post Office Square in Boston, Massachusetts is located in the financial district at the intersection of Milk, Congress, Pearl and Water Streets. It was named in 1874 after the post office which fronted it, now replaced by the John W...
  
  , Boston. Designed by Cram & Ferguson. Currently houses the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

• Suffolk County Courthouse, built 1937, Pemberton Square, Boston. Currently houses the Suffolk County Superior Court for Criminal Business

• John F. Kennedy Federal Building
  John F. Kennedy Federal Building
  John Fitzgerald Kennedy Federal Building is a United States Federal government office building located in the Government Center area of Boston, Massachusetts. It is adjacent to City Hall Plaza and is located diagonally across from Boston City Hall. The firm of Walter Gropius designed the building,...
  
  , built 1966. Currently houses the U.S. Immigration Court

• Moakley courthouse, built 1999; also called the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse
  John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse
  The John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse is a federal courthouse for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, located on Fan Pier on the Boston, Massachusetts waterfront...
  
  , One Courthouse Way, Boston. Designed by TRO Jung Brannen
  TRO Jung Brannen
  TRO Jung|Brannen is the largest international design architectural firm headquartered in Boston. The firm celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2009. The firm has offices in Boston, Beijing, Birmingham, Alabama, Dubai, Memphis, Tennessee, and Sarasota, Florida. The current firm is as a result of the...
  
  . Houses the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
  United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
  The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Maine* District of Massachusetts...
  
  .

Built in the 21st century

• Edward W. Brooke Courthouse, built 2000; 24 New Chardon Street
  New Chardon Street (Boston)
  New Chardon Street is a street in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA, north of Government Center. It begins at Cambridge Street at Bowdoin Square, across from Bowdoin Street. The two-way street continues east across Congress Street, ending at Haymarket Square with access to the Sumner and Callahan...
  
  , Boston. Designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects, Inc. Houses the "Boston Juvenile Court, Boston Housing Court, Land Court, Suffolk Probate and Family Court, and the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds."

Further reading

• William Thomas Davis. Bench and bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Volume 1. Boston History Company, 1895.

External links

• http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004672675/ View of the Center Plaza Complex and Suffolk County Courthouse, Boston, Massachusetts. Photo by Nicholas Nixon, 1975