Maricopa County Courthouse, historic structure in downtown Phoenix, Arizona.
The Maricopa County Courthouse is a large government building in Phoenix, constructed in 1929 in Mission Revival style blended with Spanish Colonial and Art Deco elements. Built from concrete with terracotta and cast materials, it features shiny bronze and polished granite accents, topped with traditional red clay tiles and a prominent central tower.
The building was constructed in the late 1920s to provide space for expanding city and county government operations, opening in the early 1930s. It was the site of Ernesto Miranda's initial trial, leading to the 1966 Supreme Court decision that established the Miranda warning, fundamentally changing how police conduct criminal interviews.
The courthouse housed significant legal figures like Judge Lorna Lockwood, the first female judge in Maricopa County and later Arizona's first female Supreme Court justice. The building reflects the stories of local lawyers and civil rights activists who fought for justice and equality in the community.
The building is located downtown on West Washington Street and remains an active courthouse hosting legal proceedings. Visitors can enter to view its architectural details and a museum on the sixth floor that displays local justice history and former jail cells.
The exterior features seven rows of honeycomb-patterned tiles, and upper floor windows have traditional iron frames with decorative bird and mythical creature sculptures adorning the arches. These carefully crafted details showcase the artistic attention and hand-executed work that went into early twentieth-century public architecture.
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