U.S. Custom House and Post Office (1901; n.d.)
Completed in 1875.
Supervising Architect: Alfred B. Mullett
Still in use by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which began meeting here in 1973; the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon met here until 1933; the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Oregon met here until that court was abolished in 1912.
Renamed the Pioneer Courthouse in 1969.
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Portland's Pioneer Courthouse is the oldest standing federal building in the Pacific Northwest. It was considered by the Historic American Building Survey to be "undoubtedly the single most important building of the American Northwest to survive into the Twentieth Century."
Constructed between 1869 and 1875 at a cost of $396,500, the three-story, Neoclassical-Italianate structure was designed in the office of the Supervising Architect of the Department of the Treasury, Alfred B. Mullett. The detail work appears to have been handled by local Supervising Architects E.B. St. John and John H. Holman. In 1903 two wings were added to the original rectangular structure, resulting in a "U" – shaped plan. The wings are consistent with the original building in terms of detail, and give the structure a more baroque shape. The front façade of the building is defined by nine window bays, the central three of which project slightly forward. The colossal pilasters defining these bays are classical, while the tall windows with the bracketed hood-molding in the second and third stories show Italianate influences. The cross-gable roof of the main structure is topped with an octagonal wood cupola, each side of which has an arched window with ornamental balustrade.
The great courtroom on the second floor is ornamented with monumental Doric pilasters with Ionic fluting. Although the fireplace, the extensive woodwork, and the high-relief, oval molding in the ceiling still exist, the original gas chandelier and superb walnut furnishings have disappeared. Used by the district court from 1875 to 1933, Pioneer Courthouse is now the Oregon home of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.