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THE ESSEX COUNTY COURT HOUSE

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THE ESSEX COUNTY COURT HOUSE

By Elizabeth Stansbury Parker

THE citizens of Newark, New Jersey, fineness of proportion and purity of design. may feel just pride when they look The building is of white marble and is up Market street from Broad and see the 185 ft. long and 160 ft. wide. The con .transformation that has been wrought — spicuous feature of the facade is the great truly a magic change — for where the portico with its four pairs of Corinthian dingy old court house, with its Egyptian columns, on the entablature of which there facade, used to stand, there now shines are 8 colossal statues, symbolizing different a massive pile of white marble, pure and Phases of the law. They are the work of stately, making a most fitting home for Mr. Andrew O'Connor, the well known

LANDING OF PHILIP CARTERET, FIRST GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY.

the courts of justice, and an imposing addition to that part of the city. This building is the new Essex County Court House, the architectural success of which was assured when Mr. Cass Gilbert was chosen to plan it. It is one more monument to the skill of this man who has built also the state capitols of Iowa and Minnesota and the Custom House in New York City, besides many other fine buildings throughout the country. He is a man of high ability in the profession of architec ture and he has been elected an Associate of the National Academy of Design in recognition of the contributions he has made to art. Mr. Gilbert himself wished the Essex County Court House to be "solid, picturesque and beautiful" and it is cer tainly a fine example of massive solidity,

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sculptor, who has received Honorable Men tion at the Paris Salon besides several medals of Honor. Flanking the forty marble steps that lead to the great portico from the broad tree shaded plaza below, are the fine bronze statues also by Mr. O'Connor, the female figure representing Truth and the male figure Power. Beneath the white portico, which is built on cement foundations with brick walls, there is an arched entrance for carriages, and into this driveway are brought the prisoners who are to be tried in the criminal court, and here they are safely transferred from the van behind iron doors. They are well taken care of and are kept quite sepa rate from the rest of the building, having their own corridors and elevators. On the first floor of the court house are