Gus J. Solomon United States Courthouse, Former federal courthouse in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States
The Gus J. Solomon United States Courthouse is a seven-story former federal courthouse in downtown Portland, Oregon, completed in 1933. Its symmetrical sandstone facade has Doric pilasters and a frieze of alternating triglyphs and metopes, while the interior is Art Deco. Only the first floor covers the full block, leaving an open central courtyard; the 117,000 square feet hold eight courtrooms.
Construction began in 1932 and was finished in just over one year. This rapid pace of building was notable for such a large and complex public structure.
The building's name honors Gus J. Solomon, a judge who served the U.S. District Court for Oregon for 37 years; it was renamed for him in 1988, a year after his death. Visitors can also see Ventana al Pacifico, a white-marble sculpture by Manuel Neri installed in 1989, and a bas-relief honoring Oregon casualties of World War I.
The building occupies a full block in downtown Portland, with only the ground floor extending across the whole site around an open central courtyard. It is no longer an active courthouse: the federal courts left in 1997 and the government sold the building in December 2025 to the Portland firm SKB, so access is now controlled by its commercial tenants rather than court security.
The 1932 cornerstone box holds five Portland daily newspapers, documents about the building, and a photograph of architect Morris H. Whitehouse with his firm's partners. The box was sealed inside the stone when it was laid in August 1932.
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