Saint Paul City Hall and Ramsey County Courthouse

Saint Paul City Hall and
Ramsey County Courthouse
Location 15 Kellogg Boulevard West,
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Coordinates 44°56′38.5″N 93°05′37.1″W / 44.944028°N 93.093639°W / 44.944028; -93.093639Coordinates: 44°56′38.5″N 93°05′37.1″W / 44.944028°N 93.093639°W / 44.944028; -93.093639
Area less than one acre
Built 1932[1]
Architect Thomas Ellerbe & Company and Holabird & Root
Architectural style Art Deco
NRHP Reference # 83000940[2][3]
Added to NRHP February 11, 1983

The Saint Paul City Hall and Ramsey County Courthouse, located at 15 Kellogg Boulevard West in Saint Paul, Ramsey County, in the U.S. state of Minnesota is a twenty-story Art Deco skyscraper built during the Great Depression era of high unemployment and falling prices. For this reason, the $4,000,000 budgeted for the building was underspent, while the quality of materials and craftsmanship were higher than initially envisioned. The exterior consists of smooth Indiana limestone in the Art Deco style known as "American Perpendicular", designed by Thomas Ellerbe & Company of Saint Paul and Holabird & Root of Chicago and inspired by Finnish architect, Eliel Saarinen. The vertical rows of windows are linked by plain, flat, black spandrels. Above the Fourth Street entrance and flanking the Kellogg Boulevard entrance are relief sculptures carved by Lee Lawrie.

Vision of Peace by Carl Milles

The interior design in the "Zigzag Moderne" style drew its inspiration from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, which promoted soft ornamentation and sensuous curves. In Memorial Hall the white marble floor contrasts with three-story black marble piers leading to a gold-leaf ceiling. At the end of the hall is the 60-ton, 38 feet (11.6 m) white onyx Indian God of Peace by Carl Milles (later renamed Vision of Peace[4]). Other features include woodwork fashioned out of twenty-three different species of wood and uses for five different types of imported marble. Murals were painted by John W. Norton while the six bronze elevator doors were made by Albert Stewart.[1][5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Ramsey County Courthouse". Minnesota Judicial Branch. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  2. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  3. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places". ww.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com. 2007-11-07.
  4. ↑ "St. Paul City Hall-Ramsey County Courthouse". Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  5. ↑ "St. Paul City Hall & Ramsey County Courthouse, 15 West Kellogg Boulevard, Saint Paul, Ramsey County, MN". Historic American Building Survey. Library of Congress. September 9, 1981. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
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