New York County is named after the Duke of York when England took over the colony from the Dutch in 1664.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Bronx County
E – Bronx County, Queens County and Kings County
S – Kings County
W – Hudson County, New Jersey and Bergen County, New Jersey
Created: November 1, 1683 
County Seat:
New York 1683 – present
County Courthouse – New York City
Location: 60 Centre Street / Worth Street
Built: 1913 – 1927
Style: Classical Roman
Architect: Guy Lowell of Boston
Contractor: Fuller Construction Company
Description: The building faces northwest and is a four story granite and concrete structure. The building is located on a Foley Square and is a hexagonal shape. The northwest front has a long porch supported by ten Corinthian columns rising to a wide pediment. The pediment has thirteen figures carved in bas relief from granite. The pediment and acrotena by Frederick Warren Allen include three statues: “Law”, “Truth” and “Equity”. A frieze bears the inscription “The True Administration of Justice is the Firmest Pillar of Good Government”, a 1789 quotation attributed to George Washington.. The rotunda contains the oft-reproduced and recently restored mural Law Through the Ages. Altilio Pustera painted a number of murals in the rotunda in the 1930s under sponsorship from the Federal Art Project of the Works Project Administration. The mural is divided into six sections, each depicting a pair of figures from historical cultures important to the history of law Assyrian and Egyptian, Hebraic and Persian, Greek and Roman, Byzantine and Frankish, English and early colonial, with the final section portraying George Washington ans Abrahan Lincoln. Above the seated figures are portraits of six lawgivers, Hammunrabi, Moses, Soloon, Justinian, Blackstone and John Marshall. The building houses the Civil and Appellate Courts of the New York State Supreme Court for the state’s First Judicial District.
Old County Courthouse – New York
Location: 52 Chambers Street / Centre Street
Built: 1861 – 1872
Style: Italianate and Roman Rival
Architect: John Kellum / Leopold Elidlitz.
Contractor: Thomas Little Construction Company
Description: The building faces northeast and is a three story stone structure. . The northeast front of the “H: shaped building has a central portico with four columns rising to a pediment at the roof line. The building is known as the Tweed Courthouse. The building now houses the New York City Department of Education. The building was restored from 1999 to 2001. The architect was John C Waite Associates.
Note: The outer shell of the building was constructed from 1861–1872 by the architect John Kellum, with the political appointee Thomas Little Construction was interrupted when the kickbacks and corruption involved in the construction of the building were disclosed to the public. The project was completed by architect Leopold Edlitz who added the rear wing and interior renovations from 1877 to1881, departing from Kellum’s classicism with “an American version of organic architecture expressed through medieval forms”.
Criminal Courthouse – New York
Location: 100 Centre Street / Hogan Street
Built: 1939 – 1941
Style: Art Deco
Architect: Wiley Corbett and Charles B Meyers
Contractor: Unknown
Description: The building faces northwest and is a seventeen story steel frame and limestone facade structure. The building has four towers along the southwest front. The taller center tower is stepped like a ziggurat. The windows and spandel form vertical bands alternating with the stone piers. The imposing entrance consists of two huge, freestanding granite columns. The interior has a hanging clock which marks the center of the two story high marble lobby. There are Art Deco lighting fixtures and metal doors and two grand staircases with ornamental railings. In 1986, a wing was constructed. The architect was Gruzen Partnership.
Note: The building is located on the site of the old Criminal Courthouse designed by Arthur M Thom and James W Wilson and built in 1893 to 1894 and the old Tombs prison. The cost of construction of the present courthouse was $14,000,000.
Civil Courthouse – New York City
Location: 111 Centre Street / White Street
Built: 1957 – 1960
Style: Modern
Architect: William Lescaze and M W Del Gaudio
Contractor: Unknown
Description: The building faces northwest and is an eleven story limestone, steel frame and concrete structure. The building has a park are on the south side. Horizontal widows are divided between the stories by horizontal panels. The first story is recessed with black colored pillars and recessed glass walls. The roof line is flat. The building houses the Supreme Court, Civil Court, Landlord and Tenant Court and the Housing Court.
Family Courthouse – New York City
Location: 60 La Fayette Street / Leonard Street
Built: 1972 – 1975
Style: Modern
Architect: Haines Lundberg Waehler
Contractor: Unknown
Description: The building faces southeast and is a ten story black colored granite, steel frame and limestone facade structure. On the southeast side is a park. On the south east corner the first story is recessed with glass paneled entrance. The windows are narrow and horizontal, In the center of the front is a large rectangular recessed section. The north side has a raised section with recessed section/. The roof line is flat. The building was renovated in 2011. The architect was Mitchell / Giurgols Architects and the contractor was JED Engineering.
Surrogate Courthouse – New York City
Location: 31 Chambers Street / Centre Street
Built: 1901 – 1907
Style: Beaux Arts / Renaissance Revival
Architect: John R Thomas and Horgan & Slattery
Contractor: John Pierce.
Description: The building faces south and is a seven story stone and steel frame structure. The building has a granite facade and marble interior. The building is constructed of Hallowell, Maine granite. The front of the building has a triple arched entrance with eight, thirty-six-foot high granite Corinthian columns above. A tall mansard roof caps the facade. The grand marble staircase in the first story rotunda reflects the architect’s appreciation of the Paris Opera House. Philip Martiny and Henry Kirk Bush-Brown, both respected, prize-winning sculptors, produced the 54 sculptures on the exterior. The statues represent allegorical subjects such as Philosophy and Law, as well as the seasons. The Philip Martiny sculptures on Chambers Street represent figures in New York City history, including DeWitt Clinton and Peter Stuyvesant. Praised muralist William DeLeftwich Dodge created the mosaic murals on the interior depicting the signs of the zodiac. The ornate courtrooms are decorated in gilded plaster and carved wood paneling in Santo Domingo mahogany and English oak. Other lavish interior decoration includes chandeliers and detailed bronze door knobs. An enclosed courtyard in the interior of the building extends from the first to third stories with a skylight on the fourth floor.
Note: The building was constructed as the Hall of Records at a cost of $7,000,000. In 1962 the building was renamed as the Surrogate’s Courthouse.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Hall of Records / Surrogate Courthouse
See: Located in the county is the First Judicial Department of the Appellate Court.
County Courthouse – New York
Photos taken 2017