Marquette County Courthouse

In 1857, the first Marquette County Courthouse, a wooden Greek Revival structure, was built on this site.^[3] By the turn of the century, this structure had become inadequate. In 1902, voters approved the issuance of $120,000 in bonds to fund the construction of a new courthouse. The earlier structure was relocated off the site, and the county commissioned Marquette architect D. Fred Charlton (of Charlton, Gilbert & Demar and Charlton & Kuenzl) to design the new building. Northern Construction Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was hired to construct the building.^[4] The county ultimately spent $240,000 to complete the structure, which was completed in 1904.^[3]

The courthouse was the site of a famous 1913 libel case, where President Theodore Roosevelt won a judgment against Ishpeming newspaper publisher George Newett.^[2] Roosevelt was awarded six cents, "the price of a good newspaper." Another later case tried here inspired John D. Voelker's novel, Anatomy of a Murder. The 1959 movie version of the novel, directed by Otto Preminger, was filmed in the courthouse.^[2]

In 1982–84, the courthouse was renovated at a cost of $2.4 million.^[2] A new courthouse and jail were built nearby, connected by a tunnel, but the 1904 building remains in use.^[2]

The Marquette County Courthouse is a Beaux-Arts and Neoclassical structure, with a central three-story mass flanked by two-story wings.^[3] It is built almost entirely of local sandstone over a steel frame.^[2] A colossal portico covers the entrance, lined with 23-foot (7.0 m) granite Doric columns from Maine.^[4] A Doric entablature with copper cornice rings the roofline. A copper dome surmounts the building, and sits above the second-floor courtroom.^[3]

Inside, the courtroom is finished with mahogany and marble. Mosaic tiles, wool carpeting, and stained glass fill the building.^[4]

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  Marquette County Courthouse c. 1905
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  Marquette County Courthouse, 1912
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  Dome of Marquette County Courthouse