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Full text of "The new court house of Monroe County; its architecture, construction and cost, with a brief history of the erection of Monroe County and its first and second court houses"

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THE NEW COURT HOUSE 
OF MONROE COUNTY 

Published by 

THE ROCHESTER PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

763 Powers Bldg^ Rochester, N. Y. 




NEW MONROE COUNTY COURT HOUSE. 



The New Court House 



OF 



Monroe County 



ITS ARCHITECTURE, CONSTRUCTION AND COST, WITH A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ERECTION OF 
MONROE COUNTY AND ITS FIRST AND SECOND COURT HOUSES 



3W 



ROCHESTER, NEW YORK 
MDCCCXCVI 

Copyright, 1S95, by Charles A. Watkvns. 



'-/^/7 C 







STATUE OF JUSTICE 

ON DOME OF 

SECOND COURT HOUSE. 



The County of Monroe 




HILH it is not within the scope of this Memorial of the Court Houses of Monroe County, New York, to review the oft-told 
history of the invasion of the white man into the land of the Iroquois, it has been very properly t;uggested that a relation of 
the establishment of the county of Monroe would be entirely in keeping. 

Briefly, then, it may be stated that in 1716, ninety years after the appearance of Father Daillon, a French missionary 
and presumably the first white man to enter Western New York, the French built a fort, probably at Sea Breeze, to command 
rondequoit Bay. After the Revolution Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham bought 2,6oo,cxx) acres of land, including the present site of 
Rochester, from Massachusetts and the Indians. They in turn sold to Robert Morris 1,264,569 acres. The land in Rochester that was not 
;old by Phelps and Gorham to Robert Morris was a tract of one hundred acres which they had previously transferred to Ebenezer Allan on 
rendition that he would build a mill on it. Ebenezer or "Indian" Allan, so-called from his associations with the Indians, is regarded as 
:he first Caucasian to settle at the Falls of the Genesee. He built his mill in 1789, and the mill-stones, one of red and the other of grey 
iranite-like stone, and three feet and nine inches in diameter and from nine to eleven inches thick, are now to be seen in the west 
A-all of the cortili' of the New Court House. 

But it was not for nearly a score of years that the improvements were begun that have made Rochester one of the most widely 
known of American cities. The city's history may be said to have begun when the purchase of the hundred-acre-tract was made by 
Charles Carroll, William Fitzhugh, and Nathaniel Rochester. This was accomplished in 1803 and cost them ;gi750, that being the price 
isked by John Johnston, at the time attorney for Sir William Pulteney, the owner. 

In 1809 the Legislature passed an act authorizing the Supervisors of Ontario and Genesee counties to provide for the "building 
3f a bridge across the Genesee river between the towns of Boyle and Northampton, at the place where the North State road crosses the 
iaid Genesee river." The bridge cost ;^2000 and was completed in 1812. The determination to build a bridge gave a decided impetus to 
the embryo city. The second war with Great Britain, however, considerably retarded the growth of Rochester, but with its termination 
Rochester entered upon a period of enlargement that has no limitations. In 1818 the population was 1049. 

Until 1821 Ontario county included the eastern half of Monroe, all of Wayne, all of the present Ontario, the eastern part of 
Livingston, and all of Yates counties. Genesee county included the western half of Monroe, the western part of Livingston, all of Orleans 




and of the present Genesee counties. The county seat of Genesee was at Batavia, and 
that of Ontario was at Canandaij^ua. The viila^ie of Rochester was therefore partly in 
Ontario and partly in Genesee county, the river being the dividing line. 

In those days debtors who were unable to pay judgments againt them were liable 
to imprisonment for debt, but the sheriff of the county to whom an execution for the 
collection of the debt was delivered could arrest the debtor onlv within the limits of his 
jurisdiction. Old residents of Rochester say that it was a common thing to see a luckless 
debtor running with all speed from the pursuing sheriff, to cross the middle of the bridge 
connecting the two parts of the village, for when he crossed that line he could not be 
arrested by the sheriff of the county on the other side. 

The two counties, Ontario and Genesee, in 1816, had a population of about eighty 
thousand and comprised a territory of about thirty-seven thousand square miles, a district 
considerably larger than the state of Rhode island. The difficulties which the people of 
Rochester and the neighborhood had in doing county business were enough to suggest the 
desirability of forming a new county, with Rochester as its seat of justice. But little 
commercial business was done by these persons either at Canandaigua or Batavia, except 
in connection with the courts held at those places, and the county clerk's, sheriff's, and 
treasurer's offices. Their ordinary business did not take them there in those days ; the 
roads were bad and the bridges were poor, and the excursions of travelers from Rochester 
to these county seats were not only arduous, but sometimes even dangerous. Neither 
Canandaigua nor Bata\'ia was a center of trade, while Rochester was, and the reasons of 
the promoters of the scheme were both forcible and urgent. 

As early as December, 18 16, the matter of the division of Ontario and Genesee 
counties was agitated in Rochester and a subscription list was circulated to raise funds 
"for erecting the Court House and Gaol, provided the Legislature at their next session 
shall * « * mcorporate a new county from the northwest part of Ontario and the north 
part of Genesee counties and shall fix the seat of justice of said new county » * * 
near the bridge at the Genesee Falls." 



Subscriptions were obtained to the amount of $6722.50 from residents of the village of Rochester, of which amount $387.50 was 
to be paid in lumber, team work, and labor. Charles Carroll, William Fitzhugh, Nathaniel Rochester, and the firms of Montgomery & 
Rochester, F. Brown & Company, and Frederick, Abraham, and Charles Hanford subscribed $500 each. Every prominent citizen added 
his name to the list. 

The petition circulated at that time among the inhabitants of the counties of Ontario and Genesee, praying for a new county, 
recites, among other things, that the administration of justice should be speedy and certain ; that four terms of court were held in each 
year in Ontario county, and three in Genesee ; that it was not unusual for a moiety of the issues joined in each of those counties to be 
unavoidably put over from term to term ; that in the short time of five years a wilderness had been made to retire before the hand of 
industry and to give place to villages, wealth, and the arts ; that, while the petitioners were led by multiplied concerns to the settlements 
on the Genesee river, it was seldom that they visited Canandaigua or Batavia for any other objects than attendance upon courts or calls 
at public offices ; that those places possessed no local advantages, independent of being shire towns, to render them seats of business. 

This petition asked for a county substantially of the dimensions and bounds of the present Monroe, and was signed by several 
thousand persons. Two plans were evolved about the same time, looking to the desired result. One was "to set off twelve miles on 
the west side of Ontario county and twelve miles on the east side of Genesee county, and to make two new counties about twenty-four 
miles square each." The other was to make this whole district, twenty-four miles wide by forty-eight miles long, into one county, with a 
county seat at Avon. 

Petitions opposing the division were also circulated and signatures were obtained to the number of a little less than two thousand. 
Residents of Canandaigua and of a few other parts of the two old counties actively resisted any division whatever, being led in their 
opposition by county and State officers. Colonel Nathaniel Rochester and Dr. Matthew Brown, Jr., were selected as agents of the 
petitioners for the new county, and went to Albany early in 1817 to present the petitions and to advocate the plan, as well as to secure 
the incorporation of the village of Rochester. At the session of the Legislature a favorable report was secured from the committee of the 
Assembly, but the plan failed in the Assembly itself. The village of Rochesterville was, however, incorporated on April 21, 1817, and 
retained that name until April 12, 1822, when it was changed to Rochester. 

No active steps were taken to proceed in the matter of the division until the aLitumn nf 1817, when meetings were held in the 
different towns which it was proposed t(i unite in the new county, and petitions were circulated similar to that presented to the previous 
Legislature. 

The desire for the division of the old counties kept increasing, and an active campaign was begun in October, 1818, by the 
appointment of delegates from the towns, and a meeting at A. Ensw(jrth's in Rochesterville. Pittsford, Brighton, Henrietta, and Perinton 



in Ontario county, and Riga, Parma, Gates, and Ogden in Genesee county, were represented at tliis convention. It was decided tliat 
these towns, together with Penfield, Murray, Sweden, and a part of Bergen, should be included in the proposed county. A committee 
was appointed to prepare a petition to the Legislature and separate committees in each town were selected to circulate it. The petition 
was presented to the Assembly on January 12, 1819, and was immediately referred to a committee, which reported favorably on January 
29, but two attempts to secure favorable action in the Assembly failed of success. This failure was due to the fear of the rival political 
parties that the division of the old counties and the erection of new ones would introduce elements of uncertainty into the campaigns of 
that spring and of the succeeding spring. 

In the fall of 1819 there was still greater energy and activity on the part of the divisionists, who had suffered defeat in the elections 
of the previous spring. A convention of delegates from the towns interested in the proposed division was held on December 2, 1819, at 
A. Ensworth's m Rochesterville, and committees were appointed for the purpose of appearing before the coming Legislature with a petition 
which was referred to the standing committee of the Assembly on counties, which, after hearing many parties both for and against the 
proposed division, recommended that the matter be postponed to the succeeding Legislature. In this the Assembly concurred. The year 1820 
was a presidential year. At this period the electors for president and vice-president were appointed by the Legislature, and the political 
complexion of the Legislature to be elected in the spring of 1820 was of more than ordinary importance. This fact doubtless had much to 
do with the report of the committee of the Assembly and the postponement of all proceedings by the Legislature of that year. 

Nevertheless, the petitioners were not discouraged by four successive failures, and with increased zeal and vigor took proceedings 
during the summer and autumn of 1820 to make their next attempt a sure success. The Legislature met on January 9, 1821. The 
petitions for the new counties were presented this time to the Senate. Counter petitions by thirteen hundred remonstrants were offered 
by the opponents of division. On January 22 the bill to erect Monroe county passed the Senate by a unanimous vote. In the Assembly 
the bill met with vigorous opposition, but was passed by a vote of seventy-three to twenty-seven. The council of revision, then having 
the veto power, approved the bill on February 23, 1821, and the act stands as chapter 57 of the laws of 1821, and is entitled, " An act to 
erect a new county by the name of Monroe, from parts of the counties of Ontario, Genesee, and for other purposes." 

The new county, named after James Monroe, then the President of the United States, included the towns of Gates, Parma, Ogden, 
Clarkson, Brighton, Penfield, Perinton, Pittsford, Mendon, Henrietta, a part of Sweden, a part of Rush, and a portion of Caledonia, which 
was newly named the town of Inverness. Within the boundaries of the new county were also such part of the territory in the counties of 
Ontario and Genesee " as is included between the southern shore of Lake Ontario on the south, the boundary between the United States 
and Upper Canada on the north, the easterly line of the town of Penfield continued to the said boundary line on the east, and the westerly 
line of the triangle continued to the said boundary line on the west." Commissioners were appointed to determine the proper site or sites 



tor u court house and gaul to he erected in the county of Monroe. A Court of Common Pleas and a Court of General Sessions were 
established and terms of said courts were provided for. One member of Assembly was apportioned to the new county. Elisha Ely and 
Levi Ward, Jr.," of the town of Briohton," and James Seymour, " of the town of Clarkson," were appointed commissioners to superintend 
the building of the court-house and gaol, and two assessments of five thousand dollars each were authorized to be collected for the expenses 
of the erection of the count\- buildings and for the contingent expenses of the county. 

The council of appointment, in whom the power of naming the county officers was vested, on .March 5, 1821, appointed Elisha B. 
Strong as the First Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Timothy Childs as District Attorney, and Nathaniel Rochester as county clerk ; 
on March 7th James Seymour was appointed sheriff, and on March loth Elisha Ely received his commission as surrogate. At the 
election of the same year Nathaniel Rochester was elected the first member of Assembly from the new county, and he satin the Legislature 
of 1822 ; in November, 1822, Elisha Ely was appointed county clerk in his place, and March 28, 1823, Orrin E. Gibbs was appointed 
surrogate in the place of Mr. Ely. 



The First Court House 




HE onl_\- further question to be settled after the passage of the bill was that of the site of the count\- buildings. It appears that 

three lots were offered to the commissioners : One, the lot now occupied by the Court House in this city, the two others on the 

cast side of the river, one being a part of Enos Stone's garden, and another a lot on North St. Paul street. The court-house 

lot (which was finally accepted) was argued to be the best site for the purpose, for a number of reasons which were comparisons 

of the cast and west sides of the river. 

The lot was sold by Messrs. Rochester, Carroll, and Fitzhugh for one dollar to the Board of Supervisors, by an indenture made May 

24, 1 82 1, and a clause in the deed required that the land should forever be occupied by the Board of Supervisors or their successors. The 

lot had a frontage of one hundred and sixty-six feet on Main street, and two hundred and sixty-four feet on Fitzhugh street. 

The corner-stone of the first Court House was laid in the presence of Governor De Witt Clinton, and Lieutenant-Governor Taylor, 
with imposing ceremonies on the first day of December, 1821. 




VINCENT AND SELAH MATHEWS" LAW OFFICE. 

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



FIRST MONROE COUNTY COURT HOUSE 

BUILT 1821. 



COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE. 



ST. LUKE'S CHURCH. 



HIGH SCHOOL. 



The Court House building was fifty-four feet long, forty-four wide, and forty high. It presented two fronts, one facing Court 
square, showing two stories and a base — the other towards Buffalo, now Main street, two stories and a full basement. Each front was 
furnished with a projecting portico, thirty feet long and ten wide, supported by four fluted Ionic columns, surmounted by a regular 
entabluture and balustrade, which returned and continued along the whole front. From the center of the building arose an octagonal belfry, 
covered by a cupola. The court-room was on the second story, extending the entire length and breadth of the building. The total cost of 
the first court-house did not exceed $7500. 



The Second Court House 




S the country expanded and became populous, and Rochester arose to the dignity of a large and thriving city in the heart of then 
the most fertile region of the United States, the need for a new court-house became more and more evident with each succeeding 
year, until in i848-'49 the agitation assumed such proportions that the Board of Supervisors on March 27, 1850, resolved to 
unite with the city in the erection of a building for their joint use. Work was at once begun, and the corner-stone was laid on 
June 20, 1850, an immense gathering for those days witnessing the ceremonies. The second court-house was erected at a 



st of nearly $60,000. 




SECOND MONROE COUNTY COURT HOUSE. 



The New Court House 




HI1,E the second court-house was a noble buildina in its day, it became apparent a decade since that it was not adequate for the 
transaction of the rapidly-increasing business of Monroe County. It was demonstrated several years before the building was 
razed that the sanitary condition was poor. Then, too, there were no elevators and not enough court-rooms. The agitation 
for a new court house was begun in 1890, but it was not until February, 1893, that the Board of Supervisors took up the 
matter by resolving that it was advisable to have a new tire-proof court-house. The Board met in special session in March 
of that year and it was determined to build on the present site. Messrs. Otis, Goss, Starkweather, Pratt, Armstrong, Oberlies, 
Englehardt, Gottschalk, Beebe, and Gallup were elected as the committee which should have charge of the building. At another special 
session in June, J. Foster Warner of this city was chosen architect. 

The corner-stone was laid on July 4, 1894, and the box contained all the articles that were enclosed in the corner-stones of the first 
and second court-houses. 

The cost of building and furnishing the new Court House was as follows : For enclosing and rooting, $295,343; interior finishing, 
5339,447; steam heating and ventilating, $25,120; elevators, $8859; gas and electric fixtures, $18,000; decorating, $5273; mail 
chute, $975; sidewalks, $2155.75; permanent fixtures, including office furniture, $57,790.23; carpets, $8000; furniture, $21,657.88; 
extras on e.xterior, $1487.96; architect's fees, $20,899.80. Total cost, $805,008.62. 

The new building was occupied by most of the court and county officials on the first day of July, 1896. 



The Exterior 




HIS maturing period of Amt-rican art. whicli has accepted the Renaissance in architecture as Europe accepted it tour centuries ago, 
takes forward a mighty stride in the erection of the Monroe County Court House. As the Boston Public Library marked an 
f poch in the building of New England and inaugurated our public use of the French Renaissance, so this Court House marks an 
epoch in the building of Western New York, and inaugurates our public use of the Italian Renaissance. America is just 
commencing to build iTi earnest— for all time ; and her citizens are just commencing to realize of what great importance good 
architecture is. Architecture is the dress of a nation ; not only its dress, hut half its being. And ue who stand to-day upon the threshold 
of a areater national existence, and look forward to the sweeping away of our temporary utilitarian structures and a strong magnificence of 
buikling which will complement that existence,— must realize the important part of leadership to be played by the first great civic building, 
purely of the style that our civic buildings will follow. 

' The Monroe County Court House is a wonderful combination of those divergent styles of the Renaissance which developed at Rome, at 
Florence and on the plains of Lombardy. It is neither wholly astylar, nor wholly arcaded ; it is neither a Pitti, nor a Grimani. It unites 
in a most rhythmical composition some of the profoundest ideas of Bramante, Burgognone, Brunelleschi, and Michelozzo. Yet it follows no 
one of those combinations uhich Italy herself saw in the later age of the Renaissance. It has no exact precedent for its union of ideas. 
Even if it had, if it adhered closely to one developed type, if it aped the very proportions and details of a precedent structure, it would still 
be a masterpiece in its application to modern uses and requirements. 

This palace of justice is divided by string-courses into three horizontal departments : the high double-basement ; the union of second 
and third stories under a series of heavy hood-mouldings, which arch the high recesses of the windows ; and the almost continuous arcade 
above. The basement, lofty, rusticaed, and projecting, gives the building its solidity, its weight, its necessary strength. These high 
basements are mainly a development of the Veronese school ; yet at Verona it is rare to find them double ; that is, with two courses of 
windows, the lower of which is upon a level with the ground. The latter idea is found exemplified in Bramante's great work, the Palazzo 
della Cancellaria at Rome. There we see these same deep, rectangular sub-basement windows, placed directly under the higher apertures ; 
though they have not double-lights, and a small string-course surmounts them. The higher windows here are unique. Their deep 
reces^ses, square, heavy dividing-piers instead of columns, and entire lack of moulding, cornice, or pediment— partake, save for the 



consoles, of the most rigid purity of the Renaissance. The strong effect obtained by their proportion of openings to the solid, makes this 
basement thorougly astylar, in spite of the portico. The rustica, though proceeding like all rustica from Florence, is seen chiefly at Rome. 
Its lightness, obtained by channeling the edges of the stones upon one side only and giving therefore a horizontal effect, is somewhat rare 
in a first story. Its best example is found in another of Bramante's Roman structures, the Palazzo Torlonia. 

The architect is most daring in his treatment of the doorway ; tor this portico of detached columns upholding a balcony is more of 
a pure Greek revival, supposedly incongruous to the astylar renaissance ; without the most dexterous management it would utterly destroy 
all the effect gained by the fine proportion of lights and shadows. Yet it has prototypes. A prominent one is that upon the Palazzo 
N'erospi at Rome, a work of Onorio Lunghi's. The Verospi, like most astylar palaces, has one doorway; the Court House has three. 
But these large openings in the lower part of the facade are carefully proportioned to the extent of wall above and upon each side. It is 
the upper part of the Rochester palace which contains the main theme. The basement, lofty and imposing as it is, combining as it does 
exquisite ideas from the Cancellaria, the Torlonia, and the Verospi, is only a foundation. From it mount the two-story window-recesses 
to that magnificent sweep of moulding-arches, over whose swelling tops trips lightly and gracefully one of the sweetest arcades that ever 
drew inspiration from Italy. This Florentine superstructure stands upon its grim Roman foundation in a union of commanding strength 
and easy, brilliant beauty. To combine these qualities of power and grace in one building is the supreme test of architectural genius. 
Raskin says that it has been perfectly accomplished only once, in the Campanile of Giotto. And just so in the world of sculpture has it 
been perfectly accomplished only once, in the Hercules of Pompeii. 

In the Court House the blending of these antagonistic forces has been brought about by the most daring superimposition of the 
arcaded renaissance upon the astylar, of lightness upon heaviness, of grace and movement upon rigidity. Yet this has been done with 
such skill that there is not a clash, not a discordant note. The facade of this extraordinary building mounts toward heaven with the 
felicitous, imperceptible gradation of color in a peachblow vase. Beginning with ponderosity and rigidity it merges, as it climbs, into 
smiling severity — into beaming grandeur — into happy, riotous magnificence — into sweetest, airiest grace. And yet it does not appear to 
taper or to be unduly fragile at the top; for a cornicione surmounts the whole whose width and device are so cunningly calculated that it 
preserves the equilibrium, satisfies the severity, and does not detract from the elegance. 

The ideas which meet to form this superstructure are drawn from Florence, Venice, and Pavia ; but they are so uniquely commingled 
that the work might almost be called entirely original. There is no palace in Italy which presents a similar facade. The real merging 
from the astylar to the arcaded, which is accomplished by placing the second-story windows in the same recess with the third-story ones 
and covering them with the same hood-moulding, is a fine piece of designing. The lesser depth of these recesses in comparison with those 
of the basement, and the panelling under the third-story windows, are the gradual steps from heaviness to lightness. The use of the 







broad hood-moulding to cover the windows of two stories, forming a series of arches which stride imposingly along from one great columnar 
recess to another, is the principal feature of the facade, giving it that amiable dignity and that smiling serenity. However, this is nothing 
new, even in respect to the double-story idea. The hood-moulding covering two round-headed windows separated by a column or pier, was 
ne of the earliest developments of the Renaissance. We find it at Florence in Michelozzo's Palazzo Riccardi, and Alberti's Palazzo Rucellai. 
it became in the hands of the Cinquecentists one of their most effective instruments for obtaining a pleasant strength. 

But the idea of surmounting a course of such double-light windows and hood-mouldings with a light arcade is very rare. It is the 
execution of this idea that has made the Monroe County Court House what it is ; the arcade has given it its grace, its lightness, its culminat- 
ing beauty. And this idea has come from its principal exponent, the Certosa di Pavia. In the western facade of the Certosa di Pavia — that 
marvelous Carthusian monastery which under the genius of Burgognone became the supreme creation of the Cinquecentists — we find the 
same broad hood-moulding covering two r<;iund-headed windows separated by a column, the panelling immediately under the windows in 
the same recess, the disc ornamentation in the lunette, and the light, surmounting arcade of small arches and half-columns. The special 
effect there is as delightful as it is in the Court House. But they are only incidents there, in a vast facade, undermined by fragile 
composition and delicate adornment, and have not the strong foundation which the Court House gives to enhance their general effect. The 
details differ somewhat in the two compositions ; but the idea is identical. The Rochester architect showed his genius in seizing a thought 
executed but in fragment and applying it with such success on a broad scale. 

It is the balconies, together with the versified arrangement of the windows in the center of the facade, which give the Court House 
its play, its relapse from the rigidity of its basement and the tiresomeness of an oft-recurring design. It is a very happy idea, this grouping 
of the central windows in one recess, leaving on each side a single-window recess to taper contrastingly away. But for this the facade 
would be nearly as immobile and staring as a whitewashed wall. 

In the entablature of the Court House the designer was confronted with an unusual and most difficult problem, as before mentioned. 
A cornicione had to be provided heavy enough for the height of the building, with projection enough to complement its sternness of tone 
and give play of light and shadow to the white level facade, and yet delicate enough to avoid crushing the sense of elegance which matures 
in the arcade. The architect has had wonderful success. By a light Doric frieze, a simple ball-and-block moulding, and a bare corona 
without modillions upon which is entailed most all of the projection, his object has been attained. That is indeed genius. It is unavoidable 
that to the observer glancing from rich arcade to severe frieze there comes a slight feeling of chilly disappointment ; this special sense had 
to be allowed, for the whole effect. It is unavoidable that to the observer viewing from the middle distance the cornice should appear 
slightlv inadequate to the building's preeminent strength and assertion ; this defect had to be endured for the sake of the sense of grace 
which will capture that observer the instant he approaches. 



The beauty of the Court House is very lavish. Not a dozen important palaces in Italy ha\e the design and material of their facades 
carried around upon all four sides; every face of this palace is just as perfect as the main one. The very size of the huge granite blocks 
is generous, and contributes mightilv to the general effect; there is imperialism in the very careful selection and cutting of these blocks. 
And with all, the Court House is so pure. There is not the slightest putting-forward of a facade as a facade; there is not the slightest 
covering up of inequalities, stufifmg of deficiencies, falsity or pretense. The interior is what the exterior announces it to be. 

The Monroe County Court House, as far as its e.xterior is concerned, at least, can be said to strike the keynote of American 
architecture of the future. Recalling to us vividly the spirit of Bramante, Michelozzo, and Burgognone, it stands to-day, in this new world, 
surpassed in purit\' of lines by few of the palaces of Ital 



Iv. 



The Interior 



N the interior of the Court House the designer was confronted with greater difficulties than in the exterior. To build a civic structure 
in our modern fashion of steel frame intermixed with masonry, that will entirely fulfill its purpose, without regard to st_\-le or 
beauty, is not troublesome. To build such a structure in one un\-arying style is quite troublesome. But to build such a structure 
in a style of the middle ages that arose from crowded space and disturbed civilization, is exceedingly troublesome. The stern 
necessity existed, however, that the interior of this building should conform to the exterior. With an Italian Renaissance facade 
wc must have Italian Renaissance halls. The idea must be carried out in space, in arrangement, in finish. This was the task devolved 
upon the architect, if he would not render the exterior an empty shell of beauty. In its entirety, this task was impossible. The architect 
did not have at his disposal space enough to provide those dimensions for apartments which the Renaissance demands. He had to house in 
this building as many human beings as would occupy a dozen palaces in Florence or Bologna. Halls, courts, and chambers had to be 
cramped, and no room could be allowed even to extend through two stories in height. 

With all this serious disadvantage, the architect has produced a wonderful work. He has succeeded in completely disguising the 
imn frame-work of the building; and he has atoned for smallness of dimension and comparati\e lowness of ceiling by a profusion of fine 
detail, which is neither too elaborate, nor too abundant. The classic idea has been quite thoroughl>' carried out; there is seldom a 
defection or a discordant note. 



of 



And he has given us one masterpiece. For the first time in America a many-arcaded Italian courtyard, tiiough roofed, is produced, 
Italian elements. In the center of the Court House lies a marvelous cortile thirty-four feet square, arcaded on four sides, and opening 

clear to the roof, nearly one hundred feet above. This is the supreme note of the building; and it will 
always be a pride to American architecture. 

As one passes between the great pillars of the main entrance to the Court House he finds himself 
instantly in a charmed land — the land of Sangallo, Sansovino, and Sammicheli. He stands in a wide 
vestibule which is resplendent with fine marbles, and overhung by a beautiful coffered ceiling. A wide 
stairway with golden arms leads the eye imposingly through a sweep of five golden arches at its top, and 
directs it to the mighty columns and entablature of the cortile glittering far away, through the darker 
entrance hall, in the sun-light. One finds himself, not only in Italy, but specifically in Genoa. A Gen- 
oese tone is at once visible in this vestibule, which is followed throughout the building. In that fair city, 
"La Superba," whose white bosom rises steeply from the crescent bay upon encircling hills, the palace- 
builders of the Renaissance found special conditions, and adapted rules to fit them. The streets were 
narrow and the limited ground sloped ; effect could not be obtained in the beauty of the facade, since it 
could not be seen ; and space could not be spared for an imposing court. So the builders enlarged and 
beautified the \estibule and the staircase, which had been hitherto neglected. 

The Court House, like a Genoese palace, lies on a side hill, and is confined to certain limits. And the 
grand entrance staircase sweeps up from a spacious vestibule to the courtyard on the main fioor. The vestibule 
itself is most worthy of attention. It is truly of Genoa. It reminds one forcibly of the entrance hall to the Palazzo 
dell' Universita upon that famous street of palaces which tops the bay. There the stairway leads up from the 
spacious vestibule to a court-yard of larger dimensions than that of the Court House ; but the view as seen from 
the entrance through the arcades of the cortile is quite similar. 

In the Court House the three great entrance arches lie behind, letting in a flood of sunshine; the smaller 
arcade of five arches in front gleams vellow of Siena marble, with doors of Cuban mahogany — which very fine 
wood is used for finishing throughout the building. The walls upon the right and left are panelled to the height of 
twenty feet with Siena marble and Pavonasso. The Siena as wainscoting extends to a height of eight feet. 

Above that Pavonasso is panelled within Pavonasso, and in the center of each wall is a bronze plate with 
IN THE VESTIBULE. inscriptious having reference to the ground on which the Court House stands, and to the erection of the present 




building. The staircase leads up ten steps of Tennessee marble, with solid railini;s of Siena, in the center 
of this vestibule. The arcade of five arches, at its top, is tilled with three pairs of swinging doors in the 
center, and a window at each end. Right and left of the stairway lead down other stairways to the base- 
ment, the side walls of which are panelled in Siena, and the lintels above upheld by tine Siena consoles. 
This feature is not strictly Italian, but it d(ies not detract from the general effect. 

Next to the cortile, the coffering ma\- be considered the finest point of the Court House. The 
design in this vestibule, like all the others, is not only pure Italian Renaissance, but is that in its latest 
and richest development, as it is found, again, in the palaces of Genoa. It is highly relieved and of a soft 
cream color. A long panel with curved ends occupies its center, enclosing a rich rosette. 

The huge lamps which stand upon the railings of the stairway are to be carefully noticed. They 
stand seven feet high, upon large pedestals, and are taken from the common form of Renaissance candelabra 
in the churches of Italy. They do not reach the rococoism or richness of many of the later period, but 
are exceedingly graceful and delicately adorned with relief work. The electric light fixtures upon the side 
walls are also to be noticed. They are taken from a \ery fine and oft-recurring design for lamps in the 
hallways and by the entrance-doors of sixteenth-century palaces; and as here used are in admirable 
harmony with the architecture. 

Passing through the arcade into the hallway, we stand before entering the court between the 
handsome doorways of the Monroe County Clerk's office on the right, and the Monroe County Treasurer's 
office on the left. Before us are the elevator shafts encased in iron-work of very fine design, and the 
staircases of the court curved out to right and left. The ceiling of this hall is nearly as fine as that of the 
vestibule. Its main effect is a large central circle with a delicate rosette, surrounded by relief-work of 
flowery design, and its color, like that of the vestibule, is of cream. The design of the doorways at each 
side leading into the offices is of the purest Renaissance, and is very happily maintained throughout the 
building. The idea is Vignola's, and is used by him in the Palazzo della Cancellaria at Rome, and 
elsewhere. Long, and rather thin consoles support a simple cornice ; and the sole decoration beneath is a 
moulding of dentils. 

A very great task has been accomplished in harmonizing the design of the iron-work, which is here 
so evident, with the classic tone of the architecture. Neither too flowing, nor too severe, it produces a rich 




ELECTRIC LAMP m VESTIBULE. 




U. S. MAIL CHUTE AND BOX IN MAIN CORRIDOR. 



and dignified effect. But now, before entering tlie rooms on the side- 
of the hall, let us advance at once to the supreme part of the building, 
the courtyard. 

As a stranger passes between the iron stairways curving to 
right and left, and stands for the first time in the court, he is over- 
whelmed with sensations of beauty and grandeur. Arcades tower 
over him on all sides, tier upon tier, soaring to a great cream-colored 
dome far above, with the blue sky in its center. Joined to the rhythm 
of the curving arches is an all-pervading lightness and happiness of 
color, not glaring, but soft and glamorous. This sweetness of tone 
seems to lift higher the impending arcades, yet prevents any crush- 
ing sensation from descending upon the spectator. Withall, there is 
much power in the boldness of the large columns above, and the 
sweeping lines of their huge connecting arches. 

The fact that the court is not open, but covered with a skylight, 
does not seem to detract at all from the sensations it inspires, or to 
give it any air of unreality. One remains transfixed at the beautiful 
embellishment of the dome beneath the skylight, at the extraordinary 
heiglit at which (considering one's impression of the exterior) it 
seems to be suspended, at the delicate grace of the double arcade of 
the fourth story, which tapers off, as it were, from the heavier work 
below, and at the absolute harmony of lines of the whole structure. 
In addition to the grace, one is possessed with a sense of great 
richness of material and design. The Siena marble on the ground 
floor, and the blue-veined Pavonasso columns above, gleam precious 
to the eye; the cream-colored plaster cornices and relief-work, and 
the panelled ceilings of the successive promenades, shower down 
their splendid lines in a profusion of elegance. 



To the spectator thus gazing upward, this court may at first seem quite large. It is not so, either in respect to the size of the 
building, or with regard to the courtyards of the Italian Renaissance which till the cities of Italy. But it is large, considering all the 
accommodations the architect was obliged to provide, which left him so little space at his disposal. The wonder is, that, after laying off 
wide promenades on four sides of the court, it was left not much smaller than it is. 

But if not broad, it is thoroughly Italian. If not a corti/e like that of the Farnese, the Cancellaria, or the Palace of the Doges, it 
is certainly a cortile like many of those that are found upon the steep hills of Siena, Perugia, and Genoa. Here again we strike this 
Genoese tone in the Court House. The comparatively small breadth, the unusual height, the wealth of material, and the elaboration of 
detail, all remind one of the school of Galeazzo Alessi. But when one looks at the skylight and indulges in the feeling that this is really 
more of a hall than a courtyard, he is also reminded of the Italian courts as first introduced into England, and roofed over, by Sir 

Charles Barry. 

Such a decidedly interior court as this is usualK' more of a iiiey{0 tenniiic between the facade and the rooms than the numerous great 
cortili of Rome, and Lombardy, which lie open at one side. Still the architect may incline at pleasure either to the lines of the facade or 
the details of the apartments. The English who followed upon the work of Sir Charles Barry, in pursuance of this rule, soon merged their 
roofed Italian courts into mere lofty halls with no outdoor suggestion. These English-Italian halls, the only real precedent for our roofed 
cortile, the architect of the Court House has not seen fit to follow. He has done far, far better in going directl\- hack to the pure Italian 
outdoor courtyard, in disregard of the e.xistence of the skylight. 

This cortile is unusually lofty for a palace of the Italian Renaissance ; there are many cortili of four stories in height, but hardl>- a 
one where those four stories are all arcaded. The usual practice was to top two ordonnances of arcades with a flat wall and small windows, 
as in the Cancellaria at Rome. The latter is considered by many the most beautiful cortile of the Renaissance ; but it is very fortunate that 
its design was not followed in the Court House, on account of our courtyard's small extent. Its idea of lightness in columns and arches is 
adhered to in our topmost arcade. There, in addition to the slight grace of the arcade, is the solid parapet running from, pedestal to 
pedestal, which Bramante so steadfastly used, not only in the Cancellaria, but also in the Cortile of San Domaso at the Vatican. And it is 
the latter courtyard, by the way, that, to one gazing down from its Loggia of Raphael, gives the same sensation of interior arcaded height 
that is found in the Court House. 

The lack of arches in the first story of the cortile may at first appear to some incongruous. But it is good Renaissance. This use of 
heavy columns and pilasters to uphold an entablature on the ground tloor of a court, is found in many Italian palaces. Its effect in the 
Court House is quite similar to that in the Palazzo Massimi at Rome, by Peruzzi, save that in the latter there is no arcade above. 

As soon as we look more particularly at the first arcade, we notice as peculiar the great width of the arches, the bold heaviness of 




THE CORTILE FROM THE SECOND FLOOR. 



the columns, and the want of pedestals tor tlie latter. The columns are appropriately smaller than those of the first story ; in this they 
obey the first law of superimposed ordonnances ; but they still appear somewhat lar<ie, and rest only upon small plinths. This disposition 
was forced upon the architect. The columns of the first story had to be so placed as to admit of the clear passaj^e through the building ; 
the columns of the second story had to be placed directly above them ; and the wide arches thus necessitated demanded large supports. To 
make these large supports of a suitable length, the use of pedestals had to be foregone. All eminent authorities from Scamczzi to Chambers 
ha\-e agreed that in the superior stories of Italian arcades there is no avoidance of pedestals. Yet our cortile has some admirable precedents ; 
in the second order of his Barbarano Palace at V'icenza, Palladio placed the columns on plinths. 

A felicity is achie\ed in the springing of the arches. Here the arcades do not follow the Genoese custom of placing a large block of 
entablature over the capitals of the columns ; but they bespeak the early Florentine method of springing directly from the abacus. In this 
instance it is well that the trend of Genoese ideas was not followed ; the abacus, alone, gives grace and averts extravagance. 

The great arches of the second and third stories are so wide that they appear to the observer below somewhat tlattened. This is but 
a trick of the eyesight, effected by the angle, and is discovered upon ascending to their le\els. It might have been obviated by decorating 
the soffites of the arches ; but that would ha\'e negatived the simplicit\' which is their main charm. The casual observer will perhaps not 
notice this peculiarity, but he will notice the handsome, cream-colored, panelled ceilings upon each promenade, and the admirable symmetry 
which has been attained by carefully placing the columns of all the stories in a vertical line. 

If the spectator changes his point of observation to the southern side of the court the peculiarity most noticeable of all to him will be 
the stairs. Both in material and design they are out of place in this sixteenth centur\- Italian tortile. These winding iron frames, resting 
upon single iron columns, light, narrow, doubling back upon themselves in cramped space, will at first seem to e\eryone to have no reason 
for their incongruous existence. But the most forcible reason exists, that of necessity. A first condition in the construction of the Court 
House was that it should have a clear hallway from front to rear, to be an easy passage from the street to the Cit\' Hall behind. We have 
noticed how the architect was obliged to place his columns upon the ground floor of the court to make this clear passage. The same 
necessity prevented the erection of any grand marble strairvvay in the court. Doorways had to open in the side walls, and could not be 
crossed or darkened by stairs ; and a stone stairway could not be arched o\er the passage, because under such limitations the pitch would 
be too steep. 

A light iron construction, occupying little space, was therefore necessary. And a tine piece of designing was accomplished in 
harmonizing its form and details with the surrounding marble. 

The architectural orders of the four stories of the courtyard ascend in accordance with custom. The ground ordonnance is Doric ; 
then follow Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite. The great Siena columns of the ground floor are Doric, and the entablature which they 




THE STAIRWAYS. 



support is rightly simple. There is no cornice, and a large fret, cut in Siena, running immediately below the top moulding, is the only 
ornament. This runs along the side walls also — which are solidly panelled in Pavonasso— and is there upheld by tour Siena pilasters on 
each hand. These pilasters, like the columns, rest only on plinths ; those under the second story promenade are one-half relieved, which 
gives some appearance of support to it ; those in the open are but a quarter relieved. The door cornices are fmelv cut in Siena, of Vignola's 
design. The tiling is of Carrara squares in lines of light Tennessee. 

The Ionic order of the second story is carried out by plaster capitals to the Pavonasso columns ; but thev are happily designed in the 
Italian method of volutes, parallel to the entablature, and not the Greek idea of volutes, at an angle. The clustered pillars at the corners 
are well adapted to carry the arcade easily around. Simple but good medallions ornament the otherwise bare spandrils of the plaster 
arches. The ionic order fails only in the capitals of the corner pillars, where close-lying acanthus leaves are used. A small, simple cornice 
tops this ordonnance ; its adornment consists of dentils, an egg-moulding, and a line of little rosettes upon the soffite of the corona. 

The ordonnance of the third story is similar to the second, save in the capitals of pure Corinthian. Arches and cornice are identical. 

The Composite order is indicated in the smaller arcade of the fourth story by capitals which have grooves in their swelling vases 
instead of acanthus leaves, bead-work immediately above, and volutes at an angle. In a line with the columns of the stories below, large 
pilasters run from the parapet to a moulding at the base of the entablature. These are very handsome, of plaster, edged with slabs of 
Carrara set upon the sides of the pier, and having acanthus-leaved capitals with \olLitcs. Their faces are ornamented with a handsome 
relief-pattern. The parapet, which is invisible from the ground, is of Carrara, panelled, has a height of about two-and-a-half feet, and is 
surmounted by a brass railing, eight inches in height. At the pilasters and columns it projects sufficiently to give the effect of pedestals. 
The columns, half-way between the pilastered piers, rest, immediately, upon plinths on the parapet ; they are of well-chosen Pavonasso, 
and are the only solid columns in the cortile. The plaster arches spring from the piers by means of pilasters, smaller than those above 
mentioned, which project, half-relieved, from the Carrara slabs upon the sides of the piers, and face the intermediate columns. In the 
corners disposition is made of the large pilasters by bending them vertically, at right angles, and having the volutes project, parallel, 
towards the center of the court. 

The cornice of this story forms the cornicione of the court. Its frieze is plain. There is an egg-and-dart moulding, and rich 
modillions uphold the heavy corona. Yet the projection is none too great. The dome, so-called, directly above, is appropriately rich in 
relief-work, it is pierced by three ventilating spaces on each side, which are engirt with wreaths. Festoons of fruit depend below each, 
and from one to the other, running behind rococo shields with bare escutcheons. Over these shields, and between the \-entilators, are fme 
lions' heads with open mouths. The grilles of the ventilators are well designed ; before their open centers are attached incandescent lights, 
which illuminate the ccjurt at niuht with a fairy glow. 



^ % ^ ^- % % 




M^ 





COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE. 



In considering the artistic worth of this court's general design and detail, we must not forget the difficulties of adapting modern iro 
framework to classic masonic building. All the columns, save the small ones in the topmost arcade, have iron posts in their centers. Thes 
posts were carefully located in the framing to give the equal arches. The walls of the promenades give no sign of ironwork, nor does tti 
dome. Only in the joints of the ground floor Siena columns, and the plaster material of the upper capitals and arches, does one notice th; 
the masonic structure is but simulated. 

The best points of this cortile are undoubtedly the simple strength of the lower arcades, the light grace of the topmost one, and th 
proportions of the cornices. But considering that this is such an advent in American life, one should not try to dissect its qualities. Let 
stand as it is, the second Italian courtyard in our civic building, and the first genuinely rich one in our country. Its sole civic precedent i 
the Boston Public Librar\', is much larger ; but that is arcaded only upon the ground story, and is not comparable to this cortik, either i 
general design or detail. 

Entering from the court into the County Clerk's room upon the right, one is struck with an entirely different sensation. Its va; 
extent is surprising. Reaching from end to end of the building, lighted by many windows, and with a ceiling, which appears low, uphel 
by numerous columns, — its effect, at first, is rather confusing. This is mostly due to the comparative lowness of the ceiling. Here th 
architect was obliged to strike the first serious false note in his classic composition. The ideas of the Renaissance demand emphaticall 
sympathetic grandeur of dimension. This was not only enforced in exteriors, but also in interiors. The halls and chambers of th 
Renaissance derive their chief effect from height of ceiling, which is of itself imposing, without regard to the heavy classic treatmen 
accorded it. Paladdio said that a room ought always to be as high as it is broad in the first story, and in the second story one-sixth les 
high. But it can be seen, at once, that the use of such dimensions was out of question in the Court House. The architect has endeavore 
to create the effect of height in this comparatively low ceiling, by his use of columns, coffering but slightly relieved, and light coloring. Th 
design of the coffering is good from its simplicity. The panels are square, each with an egg-and-dart moulding, and rosette. The soff'ite 
of the smaller beams are adorned with bead-work. The large beams are relieved with a rich guilloche of classic, flowery design, which i 
used in this connection in many places. The general tone of the ceiling is pink, and is quite agreeable. Here, as elsewhere, great care ha 
been taken in the Carrara square tiling ; every stone with the slightest imperfection was rejected, and the result rewards the care. 

A large counter of Tennessee marble e.xtends for many feet upon the east side of the County Clerk's room, from the first door int 
the ante-hall, beyond the door into the court, turning to the wall at each end. This Tennessee, in its light and dark shades, is use 
throughout the Court House in the finish of rooms. Here it forms also the wainscoting. The plaster walls above the wainscoting are plai 
and are colored the same pink as the columns. 

The County Clerk's room, of necessitv, contains an enormous number of books and papers on record. The book-cases are place 




ANOTHER VIEW OF COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE. 



in the center of the room, running; parallel to each other, and 
at right angles to the side of the room, so that the light from the 
side windows streams in between them and makes it easy to 
read in every corner. Two small stairways at the west side 
of the room lead to the basement, where other records are 
stored. The ironwork of their railings is designed in classic idea. 

The County Treasurer's room, on the opposite side of 
the ante-hall, is much smaller than the Clerk's room. One is 
struck at once, upon entering it, with the bright hue of its ceil- 
ing, which is supported by several columns of the same pink 
coloring as in the Clerk's office. The room is brightly lighted 
and well divided. Upon the left are private offices for the 
County Treasurer and his assistants, separated from the main 
office by iron partitions, with Tennessee marble panels below 
and glass above. A large Tennessee counter e.xtends length- 
wise before the door. The wainscoting and window-frames 
are also of Tennessee. The tiling of this room is Carrara, and 
the light fixtures and ventilators in the walls are of well- 
designed ironwork. We must remark again upon the sympathy 
which all this ironwork- shows to the Renaissance idea in the 
architecture. 

Just beyond the two huge Doric colunuis on the south 
side of the ground floor of the court, the court merges into 
another hallway, which leads directly to the back entrance. 
Under the promenade of the second story the doors here open 
off into the Surrogate's Court room, and its ante-room, upon 
the left ; and a door upon the right opens into a small closet. 
The Grand Army room lies upon the east side of the court. It 




LIBER DEPARTMENT OF THE COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE. 




COUNTY TREASURER'S OFFICE. 



contains a finely-coffered ceiling, which is most worthy of 
inspection. 

In the Surrogate's Court we come upon the first court 
room of the building. It lies in the southeast corner of the 
ground tloor, of large dimensions, with windows upon the south 
side and an interior wall upon the east, through which doorways 
enter to the private office of the Surrogate, and his clerk's office. 
At the left, as one enters from the cortile, is a doorway into the 
ante-room, which also opens into the court. This ante-room is 
separated by a partition from the Surrogate Clerk's office ; the 
partition is of the same novel design as that in the Count\- 
Treasurer's office, with marble slabs below and a classic iron 
framework. 

in the court-room the bench at once strikes the attention. 
Severe, strong, pure, and symmetrical, of Tennessee marble, 
it is admirable Renaissance. Its counter is of Tennessee, with 
mahogany top. It is formed behind of two central columns and 
two pilasters on the side, which uphold a simple entablature. The 
columns and pilasters are of the Ionic order as used by the Italians. 
The panels between the columns are plain. Before the bench i^ 
the Clerk's desk, also raised, but not so high from the tloor. 

The court-room is, like the other rooms, wainscoted and 
window-framed with Tennessee, and the tiling is Carrara. Tin 
ceiling is striking, both in colors and design ; large octagonal 
panels enclose highly-elevated foundations for rosettes. The 
colors are blue and a greyish pink. 

The Surrogate's private office, immediately behind the 
court, is partitioned off from the Clerk's office, with mahogany. 




VAULT IN COUNTY TREASURER'S OFFICE. 




THE ROTUNDA, LOOKING NORTH. 



and finished in the same wood. The Surrogate Clerk's office is smaller than the court-rodin, and well tilled with books and ree<irds. The 
pillars in this section of the ground floor are all incorporated into walls, save one in the middle of the Clerk''s office, which, from its central 
position, is not incongruous. The ceiling in this office is very good. It is smaller in panelling, as is suitable for a smaller room. The 
lines are more angular and rectangular, and the colors more subdued ; light green and light brown are happily commin'^lc-d. 

The back hallway, running from the quasi-promenade from 
which the Surrogate Court opens off, is fifteen feet in width and 
forty in length. It is panelled to the top with Pavonasso, and the 
ceiling is bare. One passes tlirough two sets of swinging doors to 
enter the yard between the Court House and the City Hall behind. 

Ascending the cur\-ing iron stairways of the coiiilc, with their 
Carrara treads, we stand in the promenade of the second stor\' 
arcade. Standing between the heads of the stairs, we have a some- 
what different view of the court than from the ground below. We 
see more clearly the top arcade above and the details of the dome, 
and view the ensemble in a prettier light. On the opposite side of 
this promenade, two doors open off in each corner, and in the center 
a small passage leads to the south, the lintei of whose entrance is 
upheld by handsome plaster consoles. Most noticeable is the fine 
color and richness of the Pavonasso in the columns of this arcade 
and the doorways of the promenade. One curious contrast at once 
strikes the attention, that of the Carrara and Pavonasso marbles 
in the wainscoting of this promenade ; the latter marble being so 
much darker than the Carrara that it contrasts severely. This, it 
may be said, was not a mistake of judgment upon the part of the 
architect, but a mistake in the color of the Pa\-onasso sent for the 
Court House from Ital\'. A light shade was ordered, and this darker graining was all that could be obtained. But contrast as the wainscot- 
ing is, it possesses a certain degree of striking beauty which makes atonement. In the plaster walls of the promenade, above the 
wainscoting, are placed here and there square closed windows with Pavonasso frames, whose richness contributes to the genuine luxury 




SUPREME COURT BOOM. 




DOORWAY OF ATTORNEYS' CORRIDOR. 



of the view. The ceiling of the promenade is of white ground, with 
simple brown piaster panels slightly relieved. But from its simplicitv 
and grace it agrees well with the arcades. Back of the observer, on 
the north side of the promenade, rises a cylindrical open shaft clear 
to tlie roof, in which are the stairways to the upper stories. These 
ascend to the right and left, clinging to the curved wall, and meet in 
the center at a landing half way ; thence they rise in one flight direct 
to the third story. The iron framework of this well-executed stair- 
case carries, as usual, Carrara treads. Beneath the half-way land- 
ing of the staircase, two doors open into private chambers of Supreme 
Court judges. These are rather large, and are wainscoted in mahog- 
any, with fu'e places of that wood, and plain white piaster ceilings 
with yellow cornices. The windows, framed in mahogany, open 
upon the balcony over the main entrance. Next to the outer wall 
of these chambers, doors open upon passages to the benches in the 
adjoining court-rooms. 

We enter a trial-room of the Supreme Court in the northwest 
corner of this floor. It is a very fine room, of good size, with a 
comparatively high ceiling, and an imposing bench ; it has a full 
judicial tone and Renaissance purity. The bench stands upon the 
north side, separated by a handsome iron balustrade from the rest of 
the court. Upon its left are the seats for the jury, and between the 
jury seats and the bench is the witness seat, which is separated from 
the examining attorney by a brass bar. The Clerk's desk is at the 
right of the bench, and is also ruled off from the public. 

An important point in the arrangement of this court-room is 
the separation of the public from the members of the bar. The 
public, entering by the main door from the promenade, are seated 



upon the right-hand side of the room. The attorneys enter through the tine Tennessee-framed doorway directly opposite the bench, and 
have all the western part of the court-room to themselves. This doorway is an admirable piece of work, coming from the latter Italian 
Renaissance, where it begins to merge, in the school of Palladio, into those forms which the English 
took. Hence it resembles somewhat the form of our colonial doorways, which are English Renais- 
sance. It opens into a corridor — which may well be called the "Attorneys' Corridor" — runnin- 
from the trial-room of the Supreme Court in the northwest corner to the other trial-room of the 
Supreme Court in the southwest. The whole arrangement of the court-rooms upon this floor is 
as perfect as anything to be found in the country, and may here be noticed. 

With a court-room in each corner of the building, the intervening spaces are filled upon the 
north side and the south side with judges' private chambers ; and upon the east side and the west 
side with these attorneys' corroidors and adjoining rooms. The judges are thus enabled to enter 
from their private chambers to the bench without encountering the public ; and the attorneys and 
court-attendants are enabled, by proceeding first to their coat-rooms and the waiting-rooms adjoin- 
ing their private corridors, to enter the court-rooms without encountering the public. In the 
attorneys' corridor on the west side there are four rooms on the outside and three upon the 
interior. These are devoted to coat-rooms, closets, and smoking-rooms for the attorneys. 

The disposition of window light has been exceedingly well managed also, in all of these 
court-rooms. In the northwestern trial-room, neither the judge, nor the jury, nor the witness, i^ 
forced to face the light. The attorneys conducting the trial will, unavoidably, face a little light 
from the windows upon the north side, but will receive their reading light from the windows upon 
the west side. In all these four court-rooms an exceedingly beautiful coffering has been used upon 
the ceiling. The design is the same in each room, but the coloring different. It is a design of the 
richest Italian Renaissance, yet not at all debased. In the northwest trial room the ceiling is 
separated by heavy beams into four parallel compartments, each containing three large panels 
octagonal or round. These panels are delicately enriched and contain the usual rosette. Here 
the coloring is in several shades of green and cream. The usual use of Tennessee is made in the 

■ • J ■ J , ■, r ■ T-, , , ■ , . ., „ PISA CATHEDRAL LAMP. 

wamscotmg and wmdow and door-frammg. The bench is exactly similar to the Surrogate s bench 

upon the ground floor. All of the benches in the Court House are of similar design, and of this same Tennessee marble. In the center 





RECORDING OFFICE OF THE SURROGATE'S COURT. 



of" this trial-room hangs a great iron chandelier of imposing grace. Next to the entrance-lamps in the vestibule, it is the finest iron-work in 
the building. Its use throughout all the court-rooms does not render it at all less beautiful. It is taken from that great bronze lamp which 
swings unceasingly to and fro in the nave of the grand Cathedral of Pisa — that lamp, undoubtedly the most famous in the world, which 
first suggested the principle of the pendulum. The original is a wonderful piece of Renaissance work in proportion and sculptural detail. 
In this later day counterpart, double-bellied balusters supersede in the frame-work of the vase the half-figures of the original. The 
architect cannot be too highly praised for disregarding that clamor, proceeding from ignorance, which cries down all imitation of master- 
pieces, and enriching the Court House with a thing of so much beauty. 

The trial court-room in the southwest corner of this floor is quite the same as the one just described, only larger in breadth. Here 
again the bench is opposite the entrance from the promenade. The public sit upon the left, the talesmen and jury are placed upon the 
right, and the attoj-neys entering from their corridor through a doorway similar to that in the former court-room, occupy the central space. 
The same excellent disposition is made of the window light, so that no one, save the spectators, has to face it directly. Here are hung 
two of the great Pisa lamps. 

The court-rooms upon the east side of this floor are those of the County Court. They are similar in arrangement and detail to 
those of the Supreme Court. In the southeast room the bench is on the east side, the jury-stand on the south side; and the Judge's 
chamber here adjoins upon the north, being situated in the attorneys' corridor. These provisions give the same excellent effect to the eye 
and the same disposition of window light. 

In the County Court in the northeast corner the bench is placed as in the Supreme Court room, in the northwest corner. We 
notice in these County Court rooms the same finish of Tennessee marble, and the same beautiful ceiling. 

There are two objects still unmentioned upon this floor which attract much attention. They are two huge, round stones imbedded 
in the wall of the western promenade — the millstones of the first flour mill in the village of Rochester. They were placed there by the 
Historical Society to make sure of their preser\ation for all time. 

In the third story the view from the promenade is not, horizontally, so rich as that upon the second ; for there are not so many 
doorways opening off from the promenade with rich Pavonasso frames. Here, however, we have our first clear view of the parapet in the 
top arcade; and its beauty of material and design is more fully evident. On this floor there are but three court-rooms — two for special 
terms of the Supreme Court and one for the Appellate Division. Nearly all the space upon the south side is occupied by the Supreme 
Court Law Library. The Supreme Court special term rooms are situated next to each other in the northwestern corner. On entering 
one of them we see at once that the rich coftering of ceiling maintained upon the first two stories, is here discontinued; and the effect is to 
make the court-rooms much simpler. These court-rooms are not as large as those below; but they are as large as their purposes require. 




LAW LIBRARY. 



They are each about thirty feet by forty feet in extent, with windows only in the'v\-est 
wall. There is no jury-box, or witness-stand, or judges' passage to occupy space, and 
the bench stands forth alone in each case from the northern wail, ruled off from the 
attorneys by the same handsome double-bellied balustrade used below. The Ten- 
nessee finish is still here used. The ceilings are divided by beams into three parallel 
compartments, all of plain white plaster with but a foliated shell in relief at each end. 
There are no cornices ; and their space is occupied by fair-sized mouldings. A judges' 
prixate chamber intervenes upon the south of these Special Term rooms between 
them and the Library. 

The Library is next in size to the County Clerk's room, and extends nearly the 
whole width of the building. From this extent and the strength given by the heavy 
beams of its ceiling, it is imposing; but it has no hint of ornamental detail. The ceiling 
is of plain white, adopted to reflect the light from the windows between the great book- 
cases, which stretch across the room in lines radiating from the librarian's desk upon 
the south side. 

The court-room of the Appellate Division in the northeast corner is not as large 
as the dignity of the court, yet extensive enough for its purposes. It is in the same 
style as that of the other court-rooms, save that the bench has five divisions instead of 
four. It is upon the east side, and the judges' private passage approaches it from their 
chambers upon the south. Here we have once more the ornate-coffered ceiling; and 
this is, undoubtedly, the finest ceiling in the building. A soft commingling of pink aiul 
white tones enhances the luxuriant design of its double rosettes and surrounding 
relief-work. 

The private apartments of the Appellate Division judges stretch from the court- 
room to the southern wall of the building. Here is provided a large consultation room, 
fi\e private chambers, and a large waiting-room, all handsomely finished in mahogany 
wainscoting and chimney-pieces. 

In the promenade of the fourth story, one finds himself in the most enchanting 




THE PARAPET. 




THE PARAPET OF THE CORTILE. 



part of the cortilc. The use of parapet, and pedestal, and light arches brings out a happy grace which differs much from the simple power 
of the arcades below. This arcade is very cleverly designed. The masking of the iron columns, necessitating large piers in the arcade, 
is well done by the expedient of the pilasters reaching from parapet to frieze, with smaller pilasters on each side, from wihch the arches 
spring. Here, also, the beauty of the rich design in the dome is brought nearer, and most appreciated. 

The cylindrical shaft of the stairway is topped upon this floor with an o\al skylight of stained glass pattern ; and a handsome 
Pompeiian frieze surmounts the staircase wall. This floor is used for the Supervisor's chambers, the offices of the District Attorney, and 
of the Sheriff, the rooms of the grand jury, and other private offices. The District Attorney's suite is in the northwest corner, consisting 
of private chambers for himself, his two assistants and stenographer, and a general chamber; some are handsomely finished in mahogany, 
and one in Tennessee marble. The grand-jury rooms are in the northwest corner. Leading to the principal room is an entrance hall from 
the promenade; adjoining this hall upon the right are the rooms for the male and female witnesses, and for private e.xamination. 

The Supervisors' room occupies nearly all the south side of this floor. A bench of Tennessee marble, similar to the others, stands 
on the east end for the presiding officer. The public are ruled off on the western end of the room by a balustrade. The one point of 
difference here from the other rooms of the building is in the ceiling. It is a coffering of cream-color with large panels of manv sides, 
liaving rich rosettes upon a white ground. Si.\ of the fine Pisa lamps complement the Renaissance effect. 

Back of the Supervisors' room, on the east, are two smaller chambers for the use of committees, and a coat-room — all finished in 
Tennessee. Next on the north is a chamber for the Supervisors' clerk. Beyond that, and occupying the northeast corner of this floor are 
the Sheriff's offices, and other private offices of fairly large size, with the same finish of mahogany or Tennessee that is everywhere used. 

A tour of the Court House is not complete without a visit to the basement. This is entered by the stairways descending right and 
left of the grand stairway in the vestibule. It is divided into the basement proper, and the sub-basement. On the upper of these two 
floors, in the northeast corner, lies the office of the School Commissioner of Monroe County, handsomely finished and well lighted by the 
basement windows of the facade. Beside it is a comfortable apartment for the superintendent of the building, who is thus made most easy 
of access to strangers. In the northwest corner of the basement is the office of the Superintendent of the Poor, in Tennessee finish. The 
entire central portion of the basement, back of the offices just mentioned, and reaching from side to side of the building, is devoted to 
storing the records of the Monroe County Clerk's office. 

In the sub-basement lie the boilers, furnaces, and engines which heat the Court House and propel its elevators. From that center 
of energy a complicated system both of steam-piping and hot-air flues extends its ramifications to the remotest corner. The curious visitor 
may view with interest the enormous furnaces and the rapid workings of the engines. The Court House is thoroughly well heated and 
\entilated. This is but one more honor to the successful architect and the county officials who allowed him to work untrammeled, that his 










BOARD OF SUPERVISORS' CHAMBER. 




IN THE OFFICE OF THE SUPERVISORS' CLERK. 



beautiful Italian palace should not only contain pro\-isions for artificial heating, which Italian palaces never before saw, and without 
disturbing the :?sthetic effect — but that those provisions also should be entirely satisfactory. Edgerton R. Williams, Jr. 

After the eye has feasted itself upon the beauty of the interior furnishings and decorations of the New Court House, a little 
attention might well be paid to the utility of the handsome, maroon-colored cases which form so large a part of its furniture, and 
charm one into forgetfulness that they are there for any purpose save that of ornament. This work is mainly to be seen in the 
rooms of the County Clerk, Treasurer, Surrogate, District Attorney, Clerk of Supervisors, and Appellate Court. 

These cases are in perfect accord with the tire-proof construction of the building, being made of steel, which is afterwards finished 
in japan, baked at a very high temperature. The panel-mouldings and pilasters are made of brass, finished in oxydized copper, and there 
is not a particle of inflammable material used anywhere in this work. 

Some of these immense cases contain document-files, in which are placed the deeds, mortgages, and other papers forming part of the 
priceless records of Monroe County, and here kept free from dust, ready for instant reference, and in absolute security, for entire sections 
of these files can be locked simultaneously with one key. 

Other cases contain roller-shelves, on which the heavy record-books are kept. Each shelf is supplied with a series of rollers, by 
means of which the heaviest book can be handled with the greatest ease. These cases are arranged with projecting ledges, covered with 
mahogany, on which books can be examined, and between the cases are counters fitted with roller-shelves and ha\-ing sloping desk-tops for 
this purpose. 

Again, you will see cases, or parts of cases, containing storage-shelving for the care of books and papers not in general use. These 
are covered with sliding-doors of bevelled glass. Even the counters, which seem meant only for the transaction of the general routine 
business, are fitted on the inside with cupboards, large storage-drawers, pigeon-holes, etc., convenient for the many uses to which such 
receptacles can be put in a public office. Here and there are seen graceful steel tables, whose delicacy of appearance, while in absolute 
harmony with the general finish and decorative design, forms a pleasing contrast to the heavy, substantial character of the other work. 

In the Law Library the shelves are arranged in stacks seven feet high, which are placed in rows, stacks alternating, and all 
converging to one point, at which the Librarian's desk is situated, so that from there every individual stack can be seen. This shelving is 
also made of steel, with shelves so simple and perfect of adjustment that they can be raised or lowered even when filled with books. 

While metallic furniture is not so rare a sight in court-houses, as it was a few years ago, it is seldom that one sees so perfect 
and complete a piece of work as that in the Rochester building, which possesses additional interest from the fact that it is a product 
of Rochester industr\'. 



Embedded in the wall on either side of the .m-and entrance to the new Court House are handsome bronze tablets upon which, in 
raised letters, are the following inscriptions : 



MONROE COUNTY COURT HOUSE 

1804 - 1896 

COCNTV OF MONROE CREATED FEBRUARY 23, 182I 



THIS SITE DONATED TO THE COl'NTV BV 
NATHANIEL ROCHESTER 

CHARLES CAKKOLL 

WILLIAM FITZHLGH 

FIKSf COl RT HOUSE UCILT 1821 

REPLACED BV COURT HOISE AND CITV HALL 1830 

THIS BlILDING ERECTED PURSIANT TO A RESOLUTION OF 

THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ADOPTED MARCH 24, 1893 

CORNER STONE LAID JULY 4, 1894 
BUILDING COMPLETED MAY, 1896 



MONROE COUNTY COURT HOUSE 

1894- i8g6 

CONSTRUCTED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THIS 
BUILDING COMMITTEE 

WILLIAM W. ARMSTRONG 



ALBERT P. BEEBE 




HENRY 


OBERLIES 1 


EDWARD 


ENGLEHARDT 




LYMAN 


M. OTIS 


WILLIAM 


N. GALLUP 




LUTHER 


A. PRATT , 


GEORGE 


\. GOSS 




CHAUNCEV G. STARKWEATHER, JR. | 




LYMAN M. 


OTIS 




CHAIRMAN 




WILLIAM W 


. ARMSTRONG 


SECRETARY 


J- 


FOSTER WARNER 




ARCHITECT 


A 


FRIEDERICH 


& SONS 


BUILDERS 



Tile Building Committee, whose portraits appear on the following pages, will share with the architect and builders the praise and 
thanks of this generation and of the generations to come because of the important part they had in the construction of the magnificent 
new Court House of Monroe County. They have acted throughout with unswerx-ing integrity, and with intelligence, courage, and 
patience. 

The compiler of this book extends grateful acknowledgment to the Building Committee, who kindly granted him their official 
sanction to prepare the work, to Mr. J. Foster Warner, the architect, and to Messrs. A. Friederich & Sons for their assistance. 

Thanks are also due the contractors, whose names appear in the director\', for their advertisements, and to local merchants, who 
had imthing to do with the construction or equipment of the Court House, but who lent their support toward making the book successful. 



BUILDING COMMITTEE OF 
THE NEW COURT HOUSE .* 




GEORCE A. GOSS. 




« 












L. A. PRATT. 




LYMAN M. OTIS, 
CHAIRMAN. 




CHAUNCEY G. STARKWEATHER, JR. 



A. P. BEEBE. 




EDWARD ENGLEHARDT. 






N. GALLUP. 



W. ARMSTRONG, 
SECRETARY. 




C. F. GOTTSCHALK 



FLOOR PLANS OF THE 
NEW COURT HOUSE .* 



-1 ^ 1 onnn ^ 





FIRST 



SECOND 




THIRD 




FOURTH 



4 



^ INDIVIDUALS, FIRMS, AND CORPORATIONS EMPLOYED IN THE ^ 

<«* CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIPMENT OF THE NEW COURT HOUSE. '^ 

ARCHITECT, 

J. FOSTER WARNER, 

ROCHESTER. 

GENERAL CONTRACTORS, STRUCTURAL IRON WORK, MARBLE WORK, GRANITE, 

A. FRIEDERICH & SONS, F. L. HEUGHES, NELL BROS. & KERN. GRANITE RAILWAY CO.. 

ROCHESTER. ROCHESTER. ROCHESTER. BOSTON. 

ORNAMENTAL IRON WORK, SANITAS PLUMBING FIXTURES, 

THE SNEAD IRON WORKS CO., SMITH & ANTHONY CO., 

LOUISVILLE. Ky. BOSTON. 

PLUMBING AND STEAM HEATING, ELECTRIC LIGHT FIXTURES, PAPIER MACHE AND ORNAMENTAL PLASTERING, PAINTING AND FRESCOING, 

HOWE & BASSETT. THE ARCHER & PANCO.AST CO., J. T. H.ALL & CO., HENRY WALTJEN, 

ROCHESTER. NEW YORK. NEW YORK. ROCHESTER. 

ELEVATORS, INTERIOR CONDUITS, ELECTRIC WIRING, 

THE GRAVES ELEVATOR CO., INTERIOR CONDUIT AND INSULATION CO., F. P. JONES & CO., 

ROCHESTER NEW YORK. BUFFALO. 

CARPETS, FURNITURE AND DRAPERIES, 

SIBLEY. LINDSAY & CURR. GORTON &: MCCABE, 

ROCHESTER. ROCHESTER. 

ELECTRICAL CLOCKS AND TELEPHONES, HARDWARE, STAINED AND LEADED GLASS, FURNITURE, 

RUDOLPH SCHMIDT .S; CO., CHICAGO HARDWARE CO., L. S. CHAPIN, BROMLEY. MILLER l^ MORE, 

ROCHESTER. CHICAGO. ROCHESTER. ROCHESTER, 

REGISTERS AND VENTILATORS, WINDSOR CEMENT AND PLASTER, PAINTS, 

THE TUTTLE & BAILEY MFG. CO., J. B. KING & CO., BILLINGS. KING & CO., 

NEW YORK. NEW YORK. NEW YORK. 

ELEVATOR INDICATORS, SASH PULLEYS, DOOR FIXTURES, STEAM BOILERS, 

ELEVATOR SUPPLY AND REPAIR CO.. NORRIS SASH PULLEY CO., BOMMER BROS., BABCOCK & WILCOX, 

CHICAGO. BALTIMORE. BROOKLYN. NEW YORK. 

WAINWRIGHT HEATER, MAIL CHUTE, OFFICE FURNITURE, 

TAUNTON LOCOMOTIVE WORKS, CUTLER MFG. CO., OFFICE SPECIALTY MFG. CO., 

TAUNTON. MASS. ROCHESTER. ROCHESTER. 

STEAM PUMPS, WOOD CARVING, CEMENT, ASPHALT ROOFING MATERIAL, 

M. T. DAVIDSON, THILLMAN FABRY, F, O. NORTON CEMENT CO., WARREN CHEMICAL MFG. CO., 

BROOKLYN. ROCHESTER. NEW YORK. NEW YORK. 

QUICKLIME, PORTLAND CEMENT, SIDEWALKS, SAND, 

R. G. NEWMAN, S. B. STUART & CO., L. G. MEYER, J. L. SHEEHAN, 

ROCHESTER. ROCHESTER. NEW YORK. BRIGHTON. N. v. 




BOOK containing a description of Monroe County's handsome new Court House v\'ould not be complete if reference was not 
made to the work of the General Contractors, Messrs. A. Friederich & Sons, because of the greatness of their undertaking and 
the completeness with which they have fulfilled their labors. 

In March, 1894, the men employed by the builders began the work of razing the second court-house. The task of 
excavating the cellar was alone an enormous one, even larger than was first anticipated, the rock being cleared to the depth of 
eii'htccn feet, and one hundred and sixty men being employed. In the process of the erection of the new building Messrs. A. Friederich & 
Sons have employed at \arious times from seventy-five to two hundred men. The work of razing the old and completing the New Court 
House consumed something over two years. Over 10,000 yards of rock were excavated, and 6000 yards of earth were removed. There 
were 3,500,000 bricks used in the building. The amount of granite used in constructing the walls was about 7000 tons, one piece alone, 
that over the facade on a line with the second floor, weighing over fifteen tons. 

The firm of A. Friederich & Sons is one of the oldest and best known concerns of masons and contractors in the Empire State, and 
is composed of John J. L., William M., Adam C, and Louis J. Friederich. The brothers are all practical men, having started in their 
early youth under the apprenticeship of their father, Adam, an old and experienced mason. The firm was established in 1870 by the 
father, under the style of A. Friederich. When John J. L., and William M. Friederich were admitted to partnership in 1884 it was 
changed to its present name. In 1892 Louis J., and Adam G., became members, and the elder Mr. Friederich retired to enjoy a rest he 
had deservedly won. 

■ The amount of work which has been done by this firm, and the confidence which must as a consequence be reposed in them by 
reason of the magnitude of such work may be partly learned from an examination of this list of some of the buildings which Messrs. A. 
Friederich & Sons have erected : 

Monroe County Court House, American Brewing Company's Building. 

Young Men's Christian Association Building, Reynolds Laborators', 

C. B. Woodworth Buildings, Eastman Kodak Buildings, 
Memorial Church. Rochester Power Company's Buildings, 
Hom(epathic Hospital Buildings. Rosenberg & Company's Building, 
Rochester State Hospital Buildings, Ellwanger & Barry Building, 

D. M. Childs Building. Cook Opera House. 
Triangle Building, for Sibley estate, J. K. Hunt Building, 
State Industrial School, Fire Proof Chapel, Riverside Cemetery, 
Security Trust Company's Building, Eureka Club House, 

St. Paul's Church, M. Kolb & Sons Building. 



F. L. Heughes. 

Iron Contractor, 



DEALER IN TRQN FRONTS, ROLLED BEAMS, COLUMNS, 
1 o* PLATE GIRDERS, ROOFS, LINTELS, ETC. 

FIRE -PROOF CONSTRUCTION A SPECIALTY. 
Office, 190 S. St. Paul St., ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



Iron contractor for Powers Fire-proof Hotel, the Wilder Bldg., the P. Cox BIdg., the Sibley, Lindsay & Curr BIdgs, Keeler cV Kimball BIdg., new- 
Court House, Rochester : Elmira Reformatory Extension, Elmira. N. Y.: North Water St. Iron Viaduct, Rochester : Brush Electric Light Co. Plant, Rochester : 
Rochester German Insurance Co.'s BIdg., of Rochester: Johnston Harvester Works, Batavia, N. Y. : Hygienic Institute, Dansville, N. Y.: Powers Block 
Addition. Rochester: Court House and Library, Syracuse, N. Y.: Bartholomay Brewing Co. Ice Houses, Rochester: Monroe County Jail. Rochester: Cook 
Opera House, Rochester, and hundreds of other well-known buildings. 



A STOCK OF CARNEGIE STEEL CO.'S BEAMS ALWAYS ON HAND. 



Nell Bros. & Kern, 



MONUMENTAL WORKS ^ 



TILING, WOOD MANTELS, 
AND FIRE PLACES -m .^ ^ ^ 



238 State Street, ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



CONTRACTORS FOR THE MARBLE WORK IN 
THE MONROE COUNTY COURT HOUSE, jt ^ ^ 



\ 




NH nf the most striking; fc-atures in this beiuitiful building is the treatment of the fixtures tor electric 
lighting — they are in perfect harmony with the architectural details in every respect, a rare thing 
even in the most important structures. Their pure classicism would have delighted the great masters 
of Italian Renaissance; in their entirety they form a perfect composition, but to individualize to 
some extent, the eye will be caught especially by the candelabra and brackets in the grand vestibule, 
and the chandeliers and the brackets in the large court room, illustrated in another part of this work. 

No finer examples of what can be achieved in metal, in which the ancients were so perfect, can be found 
in any building in this or any other country ; they are pure in style and rich in detail, a glorious example of 
Italian art. Not in Italy itself can be found their superior ; they will endure as long as the building shall stand 
to show the capabilities of America in her power in this branch of architecture and art to equal anything the 
world has produced. 

They are the product of a house that is famous, made so by its high and unequaled standard i)f excellence — 
The Archer & Pancoast Company of New 'I'ork. In their work in the Monroe County Court House they ha\-e 
reached the zenith, and excelled anything they have ever heretofore executed. 

As showing the esteem in which their skill is held, the following list of prominent buildings containing their 
handiwork is an evidence : 

American Surety Company Building, 
St. Luke's Hospital, 

Building for Presbyterian Boards of Home and 
Foreign Missions. 



Constable Building, 



Lord's Court Building, 

Hotel Waldorf, 

Manhattan Hotel, 

Hotel Savoy, and 

Imperial Hotel, of New York city. 



N ORDER to secure the highest sanitary protection, the celebrated " Sanitas " plumbing appliances are 
used in the New Court House. Careful investigation by the architect led to their selection as being 
the best in principle, in protection, and in the quality of materials used in their construction. 

The Sanitas Regal Closet, Sanitas Jet Urinal, and the Sanitas Non-syphonic Trap, are used 
throughout the building. They will add to the con\enience and protection of the occupants of the Court 
House and sustain the high reputation of the building for e.xcellence of equipment. 

The distinctive feature of the Sanitas Closet is its noiselessness, it being the most quiet in action of any 
made. This makes it specially desirable in public buildings where a closet is almost constantly in use. 

The bowl of the closet is so made that it does not get soiled, and the patent refilling chamber leaves a 
maximum amount of water in the bowl after each discharge. 

The sanitary seat, which does not come in contact with the woodwork, at any point, completes the sanitary 
protection afforded by this closet. 

The Sanitas traps used in a building, do not need venting, as they are anti-syphonic. A sa\'ing in the cost, 
and an improvement in the appearance of the plumbing, are both secured by the use of this trap. 

The Sanitas Urinal is of the automatic jet pattern, and is found to be the most desirable for buildings of this character. 
The installation of the plumbing is in the hands of Messrs. Howe & Bassett, which is a guarantee of its mechanical perfection. 
The Sanitas specialties are used and endorsed by the leading plumbers of Rochester and other large cities, and are in accord with 
the latest sanitary knowledge. They are used where the most exacting conditions demand something that is absolutely reliable. 

The Masonic Temple, and over thirty of the tallest and largest buildings in Chicago, are equipped with these goods. They are 
also used in the Chamber of Commerce building, the Ellwanger & Barry building, the new Granite building, and the German insurance 
Company's building, in Rochester, and also in a great number of office buildings and institutions throughout the country. 
They are manufactured by 

THE SANITAS MANUFACTURING CO., 

Smith & Anthony Company, Proprietors, 

Boston — New York — Chicago. 




I 



I 



I 

i 




'T'HE heating and ventilating registers placed in the Court-house are of 

the above Florentine pattern. They are of iron, electro-bronzed, are 

very finely finished, and were made by the celebrated •.'* v** ./* ^^ J* -^ 

TQTTLE & BAILEY MANUFACTURING CO., 
of New York. 

The amount of their contract for this work alone exceeded $5000. 




iS^^^i EADER, what would you think of one, in this, the nineteenth century, 
H ^j. preferring to patronize the old-fashioned stage-coach, instead of the 
palatial electric trolley car of the present time? Such a person 
would be considered to be, to put it mildly, behind the times. 

While wonderful ad\'ances have been made in all sciences and 
manufactures the manufacturers of Paint and Varnish have also 
been advanced in their lines. There never was a time when so much skill and 
science was put into the manufacture of Paint and Varnish as now. This intel- 
ligence and skill has, of course, increased the possibilities for tiner and better 
Paint being made ready for the brush. 

The mixing of Paint cold, by hand, is too primiti\e to be entertained for a 
single moment by any intelligent or progressi\e architect, property-owner, or 
painter. 

The reputable Paint manufacturer is enabled to put together the best selected 
material by powerful steam machinery, and make a far better Paint (ready for 
use) for all kinds of painting. In support of this statement we refer you to the 
beautiful structure, of which this book is a treatise. 

The architect, after thoroughly looking into the merits of all kinds of Paints, 
selected the w^ell-known brand of Pure Prepared Paint (ready for use) made by 
Billings, King & Co., of New York, as the grade of Paint best suited to 
harmonize with the general appearance of the whole structure. 




HE electrical equipment of a building of this kind, is one of its most important features: after the 
system of lighting has been determined upon, with the location, and number of lights, the conduit 
and wiring must be carefully laid out on the plans and specifications prepared, describing fully the 
intended plant. 

The Court House has a switch-board of polished marble in the basement, and all the lights in 
the building are controlled first from that point. Switches are also placed in the various rooms and corridors 
in cabinets of marble, with ornamental metal doors. All wires are run through iron conduit, and it is practicable 
to withdraw any and all the wires at any time, and draw in new ones, without disturbing finished work. The 
wire used is, like the other material, among the best the market affords ; the whole system in all details 
being modern and strictly up-to-date. 

The installation of this conduit and wire, the arrangement of junction boxes, cut-outs, switches, etc., is 
a very particular job, and it is highly important that it be properly done, as, after the building is completed, 
this part of the work cannot be gotten at without great destruction of marble tiling, or other e.xpensive 
finished work. 

F. P. Jones & Co., of Buffalo, were the contractors for the electrical work of this building, and have 
carried it through in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. Among other large buildings, recently equipped by 
this firm, they mention the D. S. Morgan Building, the Mooney-Brisbane Building, the New Real Estate 
Exchange Building, in Buffalo, and the Mabley Building, in Detroit, Mich. 



CEILINCS 



FRIEZES 



C0RNICE5 




sv 



li>*^**^' 



IN «g^ 



"WH*!*^ 



::, ^ 



K 




^v*f 





C'-. ^fp^icA": 



131 W. IS!? 5T. NEW YORK 



THE ENTIRE PAPIER MACHE, CARTON PIERRE AND ORNAMENTAL PLASTER WORK OF THE 

NEW MONROE COUNTY COURT HOUSE WAS MODELED. CAST, AND SET 

BY MESSRS. JAMES T. HALL & CO., OF NEW YORK. 



KING'S WINDSOR 



Asbestos Cement and Cement Dry Mortar, 



I 



Both for Plastering Walls and Ceilings, 

The former to be used with sand. The latter (being already 
mixed with sand) requires but the addition of water. 

B. KING & CO., 

2J-24 State Street, New York, N. Y. 



SOLE PATENTEES AND 
MANUFACTURERS, ^ Ji 



The practical testimony of the great merits and appreciation of our WINDSOR CEMENT is, that leading architects throughout the country have called for 
it on their best and most costly structures, while architects generally have specified it for all kinds and grades of buildings, expensive and inexpensive, as extra 
cost does not debar its use on even the humblest cottage. Millions of barrels of it have been used within the last three years. 

We inipro\-e this opportunitv to tender our thanks to all patrons, and to invite all Architects evervuhere to send for our complete treatise on the subject of 
"NEEDED IMPROVEMENT IN PLASTER FOR WALLS AND CEILINGS," and also for our "PRACTICAL EVIDENCE OF SUPERIORITY," an 
octavo pamphlet of 56 pages, containing about three thousand of the buildings on which our material has been used — the buildings being classified and indexed 
as follows: 



Office, Insurance, and Bank Buildings. 

Hospitals, Asylums, Sanitariums. Etc. 

Colleges, Seminaries, Libraries, Laboratories, Etc. 

Public School Buildings. 

Churches and Rectories. 

Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Association and Woman's 

Christian Temperance Union Buildings. 
Masonic Temples, Etc. 
Federal, State, County, and Town Buildings. 



Theatres, Opera Houses, Halls, Etc. 

Hotels. 

Apartment Hotels, Apartment Houses, and Flats. 

Business Buildings, Stores, Blocks, Etc. 

Railroad Depots and Stations. 

Mills, Factories. Breweries, Etc. 

Miscellaneous Buildings. 

Residences. 



The New Court House of .^ 
Monroe County, New York. 

After careful investigation it was decided to adopt for the heating and power 
required in the building, the well-known Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers. « 
These boilers have a world-wide reputation for safety and economy, and are in 
use in every country on the globe. Some idea of the extent to which these 




..Ty>« i *^ 



boilers are used can be gathered from the fact that about 1,500,000 horse-power 
are now in actual service, representing an investment in round figures of thirty 
millions of dollars. 

There are three boilers of 100 horse-power each in the installation. The 
water in these boilers is subdivided so that the quantity contained in any one 
section is so small as to render impossible a disruptive explosion. The cut 
shows the general construction by which this division of contents is effected. 




Citv <•! New 



HE " F. O. Norton" cement used in the Court House of Monroe County has an 
unusual record as being the leading high-class cement among the various 
brands adopted for building purposes throughout the country. 

Other structures erected with it are the Brooklyn Bridge, the engineer of 
which says i The " Norton ' cement was selected at a higher price than others 
on account of superior quality, and the entire weight ot the tower rests upon 
it." Beside this vast work, the Madison Square Garden, New York, is built 
entirely with the " F. O. Norton" cement. The Equitable Life Insurance 
Company's Building. New York ; St. Luke's Hospital. New York, (new build- 
ing) and almost every bank structure erected during the past ten years in the 
Voric are erected with this famous cement, it having been called for by the archi- 
tects and often chosen by the better class of builders who secure work of the foregoing class. 
It is often asked why the " Norton '" cement lias gained such notoriety and the answer is 
the fact that experience has proved it of unvarying uniformity and possessing all the re- 
quisites for the high tests exacted by engineers and architects. Only the best selected rock 
is used in its manufacture and the .greatest attention is given to fender the burning and 
grinding of the clinker absolutely uniform. 

In the preparation of the foundation mass for the Bartholdi Statue of Liberty. General 
Charles P. Stone. C. E.. who had the matter in charge, gave the following interesting 
results: " A cube of * Norton ' cement. 12x12x12 inches, i part cement. ! jiart sand, 7 part.s 
broken stone, yielded under pressure at the end of six months' setting at 5N 53-100 tons, at 
the end of twenty-seven months at 97 55-100 tons, at the end of twenty-eight months at 
104 24-100 tons." When it is considered that the estimated weight per foot of the Brooklyn 
Bridge towers is 7 tons, the factor of safety attained by using the " F. (). Norton " cement in 
bridges and buildings is easily apparent. 



DESCRIPTION of the New Court House would perhaps 
be incomplete without reference to the fine cement side- 
walks surrounding the building. These pavements, as 
well as the tlooring in the basement floors, were laid by 
Louis G. Meyer, No. 156 Fifth A\'enue, New York and 
are noticeable for their neat and substantial finish, as 
well as for their durability. 

Mr. Meyer is extensively engaged as a general contractor and is 
in every way qualified to do every description of cement work. Side- 
walks, curbings, and driveways of Flintolithic, Asphalt, and Artificial 
Stone demand his special attention. 





«^ 




HE hardware used throughout the building is most 
admirably adapted to its double purpose; viz., to 
give the best service both in convenience and dura- 
bility, and to beautify and complete by its simplicity 
and its highU- artistic effect, the fine wood-work. 
The Chicago Lock is deservedly popular everywhere, and 
no manufacturers of builders' hardware are better equipped to 
do satisfactory work than the Chicago Hardware Mfg. Co., 
either in fine designs or in absolutely correct modern finishes. 
The cut on this page shows the style of hardware used, and 
we predict that it will prove a lasting pleasure to all observers. 



t^ 




The Snead & Co. Iron Works, 



Elevator Screen in wrought and ca»t-iron. 
finished in electro-bronze, for the Monroe 
County Court House. Rochester, N, Y. 

J. Foster Warner, Architect. 



LOUISVILLE, KY^ 



Makers of 



Structural and Ornamental Iron Work 

For Architectural Purposes* 



Finest Castings in Iron, Brass, Bronze, and Aluminum. 
Hand-Forged and Hammered Wrought-Iron Work, Etc. 

ELECTRO -PLATING AND BOWER - BARJTING. 

STRUCTURAL WORK IN CAST-IRON AND STEEL. 




EAUTY and proportion are considered and demanded as essential in 
every construction of importance ; and it is a strange anomaly to 
see on some of the most elaborately artistic entrances, the clumsy, 
awkward fixtures used for closing the doors, marring and even 
destrying the finest effects through utter incongruity with the sur- 
roundings. Utility is good, but utility combined with beauty is better. 
It is owing to the possession of these qualities, combined with great durability, 
that the Bommer Spring Hinge, manufactured by Bommer Bros., 551 and 353 
Jay St.. Brooklyn. N. Y.. was adopted for the new Court House, it being gen- 
erally acknowledged that no part of a building is subject to closer scrutiny than 
the entrance, where objectionable features are promptly discovered and con- 
demned. Special care was taken in making this selection. 



ELEVATOR Supply and Repair Co., 

34 and 36 West Monroe Street, CHICAGO, ILL. 

Manufacturers of 

Mechanical Floor Indicators, 

Armstrong: Electric Elevator Signals, 

Flash-Light Annunciators, 

Automatic Door Mechanisms for Passenger Elevators, 

Elevator Guide Lubricators. 



The most prominent buildings in the country are equipped with our devices. 
WRITE FOR ESTIMATES. 



Davidson Steam Pumps The Norris Sash Pulleys. 




and 



Hydraulic 
riachinery 

For all situations. 

M. T. DAVIDSON, 

43=53 Keap Street, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 



Branches : 



' 133 Libertv Street. New York. 
I so Oliver Street. Boston. 



Norris Sash Pulleys are being specified by nearly all the leading Archi- 
tects of the couiitrv. Whenever you see a fine building rest assured that the 
Norris Sash Pulleys are in the frame. 

We cheerfully furnish .Architects catalogues, and samples free of cost. 

Address, 

The Norris Sash Pulley Co., 

Baltimore, Md. 




|UR work in the Monroe County Court House is only a 
sample of the class of work that we are placing in 
hundreds of Court Houses, City Halls, and Banks 
throughout the country. Many of the most prominent 
public buildings are fitted up with our Metallic Furni- 
ture, and we can give innumerable references as to 
the satisfaction which it affords to those using it, but why go out 
of Rochester for that, when the work in the Court House speaks 
for itself, and the officials boast that they ha\-e the finest offices in 
the United States. 



OFHCE SPECIALTY MFG. CO., 

601 bOb Wilder BIdg., Rochester, N. Y. 



MAKERS OF LABOR-SAVING 

OFFICE DEVICES OF ALL KINDS. 



(See illustrations in this book of the County Clerk's office, the 
County Treasurer's office, the recording office in the Surrogate's 
Court, the Law Librarj-, and the Super\'isors' Clerk's office, all 
of which were equipped with our office furniture, i 



THE (]ARPETS 



The Contract for furnishing all the 
Carpets for Monroe County's New 
Court House was awarded to J* J* 

Sibley, Lindsay & Curr 



because they offered to supply the best 

ROYAL WILTONS 

at the lowest price. ^* j* ^ jt ^ ^ 



BEST CARPETS 

LOWEST PRICES 



TWO THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT 
SIBLEY, LINDSAY & CURR'S WHEN IT 
COMES TO CARPET BUYING. ^ ji jt Jt 




H E roof of the Court House is covered with the asphalt roofing materials 
manufactured by the Warren Chemical & Manufacturing Company, 
Si and 83 Fulton Street. New York, N. Y. The Warren Company 
are the pioneers of the asphalt business, and their Anchor Brand 
Natural Asphalt Roofmg has been in use for the past twenty years 
on many of the largest manufacturing and railroad buildings, as well 
as the fmest office and public buildings, throughout the United States and Can- 
ada. Among these we would mention the following : Allegheny County Court- 
house and Jail, Pittsburgh, Pa. ; Lucas County Court-house, Toledo, Ohio ; 
Home Savings Bank building, Detroit, Mich.; United Bank building, New York; 
United League Club-house, New York, and many buildings belonging to the 
New York Central Railroad, Boston & Albany Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad, 
Wasburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, General Electric Company, etc. 
The Anchor Brand Roofing is applied in very much the same way as the 
ordinary gravel roofing, but the materials are entirely different, being composed 
of Trinidad natural asphalt, instead of coal tar, as in the ordinary roofing. The 
oils in the asphalt, being non-volatile at any natural temperature, remain in the 
roofing, keeping it in its original condition during an indefinite exposure to the 
weather, in illustration of this fact, the Warren Company have samples of their 
Anchor Brand Asphalt Felt and Cement that have been in actual use from fifteen 
to twenty years, and show no signs of deterioration, the asphalt felt being as 
tough and pliable, and the asphalt cement as soft and elastic, as when first 
applied. 




The 

Wainwright 

Heater 

Of whatewr tvpc always contains 

Corrugated Copper 
Tubes. 

The Court Hmise heater is a special combination, and 
the heater shown in the above cut is still another. 

We would like to tell you more about both of them. 

Taunton Locomotove Mfq. Co., 

TAUNTON, MASS. 



GORTON & HcCABE, 

Furniture, 

Carpets, 

Draperies, 

and Interior Decorating, 



« Rochester, n. y. 



All the Chairs and Draperies 
for the Court House are from 
our establishment. 



R. Q. NEWMAN, 

,Tanufacturer of 

Snow's Celebrated White Quick Lime, 

Dealer in Plaster Paris, Cement, 
Plastering Hair, Etc. 

Telephone 1181. 



80 Exchange Street, 



ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



The Wood Carving in the Court House 
was executed bv 



THILLMAN FABRY, 

Wood Carver, 

48 North Water Street, ROCHESTER. N. Y. 







- i:5- 



CH 



L, S, CHAPIN, 

90 Exchange St., 
ROCHESTER, N. Y. 

Leaded -Glass Worker 

Stained Ecclesiastical and Domestic Glass. 
SPECIAL DESIGNS. 

I MADE AND SET ALL THE LEADED GLASS IN THIS BUILDING. 



Henry Waltjen, 



38 Exchange Place, 



ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



Was the Contractor for 



e^ 



Tinting - 
Painting 



The New 
Court House. 



Electric Time Clocks 



and 



Telephones 



Including latest up-to-date 
Wiring in the 




NEW COURT HOUSE 



is put up by 



Rudolph Schmidt & Co,, 

Dealers in 

Optical, Mathematical, Electrical, 
and Telegraphic Supplies ^ c*- j* 

IT' -J Contractors for all kinds of 

K = - - I 

%^i ELECTRIC WORK. 

5t East Main Street, opposite Front Street. 



&© 







a 



g! 



fO:,|||', 



GRAVES ELEVATORS 

Latest Improvements, 
Finest Construction, 
Most Economical, 
Greatest Speed, 
Safest. 

Hydraulic Passenger and Freight. 

Electric Passenger and Freight. 
Patent Steel Screw Belt Passenger and Freight. 
Patent Spur Gear Freight, Hand and Sidewalk. 

* 

Send for Catalogue. 

GRAVES ELEVATOR CO., 

ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



NEW YORK 

92, 94 LIBERTY STREET. 



BOSTON 

53 STATE STREET. 



ATLANTA, GA. 

INMAN BUILDING. 



CHAS. VOGEL, President and Superintendent. 

FREDERICK S. ROGERS, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. 

THEODORE J. VOGEL, Assistant Superintendent. 



THE 



John Siddons Company. 



^ Roofing. 



Copper and Galvanized Iron 
Cornice Works. 



HOWE & BASSETT, 



61=63=65 North Water St. 



Rochester, N. Y. 



Jobbers in 



Plumbing and Steam Fitting 
Supplies. 



PLUMBING, HEATING, AND GREEN- 
HOUSE WORK A SPECIALTY. 



USE THE ELECTRIC BOILER 



For Heating Your House. 



32 Stillson Street, Near Main, 

16-18=20 Achilles Street, 

ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



J. ALBERT SIMPSON, Treasurer. 



Incorporated 1826. 



Capital $250,000. 



HENRY E. SHELDON, Aoent. 



GRANITE RAILWAY COMPANY, 

Principal Office, 166 DEVONSHIRE ST., BOSTON, MASS. 

Monumental and Building Granites 



Quarries at West Quincy, Mass., and Concord, N. H. 

Proprietors of the Railway Quarry, Quincy, Mass. 



To enumfrate all the Monuments and Buildings erected in \-arious parts of the country from nur Quincy and Concord 
Granites, would take up too much space, but we mention a few prominent ones: 



Monuments Erected from our Quincy Granite. 

Bunker Hill Monument. Charlestown district. 

Boston. 
President Arthur's monument. Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Pedestal of Henry Ward Beecher's monument ; 
Pedestal of Gen. Grant's monument in Brooklyn, 

and the Utica, N. Y.. soldiers' monument. 

ESTIMATES PROMPTLY GIVEN. 



Buildings Erected from our Quincy Granite. 

The Custom House. Boston. Mass. 
The old Tremont House, Boston, Mass. 
The Custom House, New York city. 
The Astor House, New York city. 
Agricultural Hall, New Orleans, La. 
The Custom House, New Orleans, La. 



Machine Shop and Polishing Works at West Quincy, Mass. 



Buildings Erected from our Concord Granite. 

City Hall, Horticultural Hall, and Rialto bldg., 
Boston : New York Life Assurance, German Sav- 
ings Bank, and the Staats Zeitung bldgs. in New- 
York city; Hartford Fire Ins. Co.'s. and Charter 
Oak Ins. Co.'s bldgs.. Hartford, Conn., and the 
Monroe County Court House, Rochester, N. Y. 

WORK STRICTLY FIRST=CLASS. 



THE 5aunders studio. 



^ 



By Photography 

Portraits j:Sl„ 

In Carbon 



PORTLAND 
CEMENT^ .^ 



'T^HE Portland Cement used in the construction of the 
■^ Court House was supplied by S. B. Stuart & Co., 
Rochester, N. Y., agents for the Empire Portland Cement 
Works at Warners, N. Y. Over two thousand barrels, 
or four hundred tons, were furnished for this work alone. 



JAMES GAFFNEY. 



JOHN J. McGAHAN. 



Portraits in Water Colors. 



GAFFNEY & McGAHAN, 

STEAM AND GAS FITTERS, 



J 98 MiU Street, ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



Hot Water Heating a Speciality. 

Estimates Furnished. 



Portraits in Crayon. 



^ 



ONLY HIGH-GRADE WORK. 



IRVING SAUNDERS, 

Manager. 




HE new Court House of Monroe County is 
equipped througliout witli the Iron-Armored 
Conduit System for electric lighting, manu- 
factured by the Interior Conduit and Insula- 
tion Company, general offices and works, 
No. 527 West 34th Street, New York City. 



J. L. SHEEHAN, ^^^ 

BRIGHTON, N. Y., 



FURNISHED ALL THE 



SAND 



Used in the Foundation, Stonework, Brickwork, and for Laying all the Tile and 
Cement Floors, and also for all Concrete Work on the top of Floor=arches in the 

NEW COURT HOUSE, 



Amounting to Over 5000 Loads. 



Any Architect or Builder will tell you that Sheehan's Sand is SHARP, CLEAN, and the 
VERY BEST to be found in Monroe County. I will Deliver to any part of Rochester. 



Bromley, Miller & More, 

CONTRACTORS FOR FURNITURE IN 
MONROE COUNTY COURT HOUSE J« 



We can Furnish the Flowers, 



Special Attention 

given to all kinds of 

Order Work, 



We always have on hand a large stock of Parlor, Library, 
and Office Furniture, and all kinds of Upholstered Work. 

We make a specialty of Fancy 
Cabinet Work, and odd pieces. 



Bromley, Miller & More, 

181-187 East Main Street. 



SALTER BROS., 



Florists. 



38 West Main Street, opposite the Court House, 
and 3 and 5 East Avenue, Liberty BIdg. 




The vetter desk^ 



HIGH-GRADE WORKMANSHIP 
AND FINISH. 



KEEPING ALWAYS ON HAND A LARGE ASSORTMENT 
IN ALL SIZES OF ROLLER CURTAIN DESKS, AT EX- 
TREMELY LOW PRICES, WE CAN SATISFY PARTIES 
WANTING TO INVEST ONLY A SMALL SUM IN A DESK 
AS WELL AS THOSE WHO ARE LOOKING FOR THE 
VERY BEST TO BE HAD. M j* j* M J* ^ * J* .^ j* jt ^'t ^ 



9t 



VETTER Desk Works, 



30-36 RIVER STREET, 



(NEAR N. Y. C. DEPOT) 



ROCHESTER, N.Y. 




High Art Photo Studio. 



«i$5 t^ fc^ 



WE EXHIBIT THE VERY LATEST IN 
HIGH ART PORTRAITURE, viz.:.'*.'*.* 



CARBON, IN DIFFERENT TINTS, 
^ MONO -TINT PLATINUM, BLACK AND SEPIA, 

m PASTEL and WATER COLOR, 



OT TR PART ORS ^^^ ^^^ ™°^* convenient, our Gallery is the best equipped, and 
^ ^'^ especially designed to meet the latest demands in Photographic 

Art. The result is first-class work in the most artistic style. 



LIBERTY BUILDING. 

COR. EAST AVE. AND MAIN ST. 



J. E. Mock. 




In our '96 Model Humming Bird Bicycle we have embodied the essential fea- 
tures necessary to the production of a first-class^ high-grade bicycle. We are manufacturers 
of four years' experience. Your inspection and patronage are respectfully solicited. 



BETTYS & MABBETT CO., 

Salesroom : 34 East Avenue, Rochester, N. Y. 



Easy Running ^ ^ ^ 



Superb Workmanship 




Ride a Humming Bird Bicycle and be happy* 



BETTYS & MABBETT CO., 

Salesroom s 34 East Avenue, Rochester, N. Y. 



Strong and Durable -jc 



Correct Lines ^ -^^ -.^ 



Our Specialties .j: 



Handsomest Register Made 



Furniture to Order, 

Choice Articles in Vernis-Martin Decorations 
and Marquetry, 

Beautiful Tapestries, 

Hair Mattresses to Order and First-CIass 
Live Geese Feathers. 



^^^^♦S?^ 
^ \ 









STALLKNIGHT 

& SCHMINKE, 

I37-I39-I4J East Main St. 

opposite Sibley, Lindsay & Curr's. 




NEW WALL REGISTER, ORNAMENTED 
WITH ENAMELED EMBOSSED TILE. ■.•< .•« 
SIMILAR ARTICLE FOR FLOORS. ■.•* ■* -.^ 



RIVES & CO., 

ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



New^ Catalogue has 
colored illustrations. 






Security Trust Co., 

Granite Building, Rochester, N. Y. 

After January ist, IS97, at our own New Building:, 
cor. East Main and South Water Sts. 



^ ^f§^^k?^^^^)'y^l^ ' <^'^^M ^ 



Capital, = = = 

Stockholders' Additional Liability, 
Surplus, = = = 



$2(XK00() 
200,(KM) 
150,000 



EDWARD HARRIS, president. 
JAMES S. WATSON, ist vice-pres. WILLIAM L. MERCER, secretary. 

ALEX. M. LINDSAY, 2D vice-pres. FRANK M. FlLERY, ASSrsT. secy. 

HARRIS & HARRIS, counsel. WILLIAM H.WARD, suPT. of VAULTS. 



EDWARD HARRIS 
HIRAM W. SIBLEY. 
BENJ. E. CHASE. 
THOS. W. FINUCANE, 
ALEX. W. LINDSAY 
JAMES S. WATSON. 
OILMAN H. PERKINS, 
EUGENE H. SATTERLEE, 



TRUSTEES. 

J. LEE JUDSON. 
RUFUS K. DRYER 
ALBERT H. HARRIS, 
ERICKSON PERKINS 
WILLIAM L. MERCER. 
RUFUS A. SIBLEY, 
JULIUS M. WILE, 
FRED P. ALLEN. 



GILBERT BRADY, 
WM. E. WERNER, 
J. ALEX. HAYDEN, 
GRANGER A. HOLLISTER, 
C. WALTER SMITH, 
JOSEPH T. ALLING. 
E. S. ETTENHEIMER, 
GEORGE WILDER. 



This Company is authorized to act as Executor, Trustee, Admiuistrator. or 
Assignee. Transacts a General Banking Bn.siness and .solicits the accounts of 
firms and individuals. Allows interest on deposits. Loans money on bond and 
mortgage and approved .securities. I.s a legal depository for court and trust funds 
by appointment of the Comptroller of the State of New York. Al.so has been 
designated by Superintendent of Banking Department of the State of New York 
as Depository for Reserve Fund.s of State Hanks. Acts as Registrar and Transfer 
Agent of Stocks and Bonds. Draws bills of exchange on New York City and all 
the principal cities of Europe, and issues letters of credit to travelers. 

Safe Deposit Boxes rented In New Burg/ar-Proof Vault. Prices, 
$5.00 to $40.00 per year. Silverwear, Boxes, and Trunks, contain' 
ing valuables, received for safe-keeping. Moderate charges. 





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Jiiiili 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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