William Kenzo Nakamura United States Courthouse, Federal courthouse in downtown Seattle, United States.
The William Kenzo Nakamura United States Courthouse is a ten-story federal courthouse in downtown Seattle, Washington. It has five courtrooms with tall windows, terracotta panels on its exterior, and polished terrazzo floors running through its interior halls.
The building was completed in 1940 and was the first courthouse in the western United States built solely for federal court use. It received its current name in 2001, when Congress honored William Kenzo Nakamura, who had been awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
The courthouse bears the name of William Kenzo Nakamura, a Japanese American soldier who died fighting for a country that had imprisoned his own family. Visitors who know this story tend to pause at the entrance, where a plaque marks his name on the federal building.
The courthouse sits in central Seattle and is easy to reach on foot from many parts of downtown. As an active federal court, access inside is limited to public areas, and visitors should expect a security check at the entrance.
Architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood designed the building with a neoclassical temple-style front and Art Deco details layered onto a concrete frame, a combination that was unusual for its time. Underwood also designed lodges in several national parks, which gives this downtown courthouse an unexpected connection to the American outdoors tradition.
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