San Diego County is named for San Diego Bay, which was named for Saint Didacus of Alcala which in Spanish is “Diago de Alcala”.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Orange County and Riverside County
E – Imperial County
S – Mexico
W – Pacific Ocean
Created: February 18, 1850 
County Seat:
San Diego 1850 – present
County Hall of Justice – San Diego
Location: 330 West Broadway / Union Street
Built: 1994 – 1996
Style: Modern
Architect: Carrier Johnson UW
Contractor: Hensel Phelps Construction Company
Description: The building faces south and is a fourteen story steel, concrete and glass structure. The building is located in the center of San diego on the south side of the courthouse.and is tiered with smaller sections on the upper stories. The south front has three columns at the main entrance. The windows are vertical with panels between the floors. The roof line is flat. The building houses the County Superior Court – Civil. The building was developed by Langford & Associates and Hensel Phelps Construction Company.
County Courthouse – San Diego
Location: 1100 Union Street / West C Street
Built: 2014 – 2017
Style: Modern
Architect: Skidmore, Owings and Merrilll
Contractor: Rudolph and Sletten, Inc.
Description: The building faces south and is a twenty-four story steel, aluminum, precast concrete and glass structure. The building is located in the center of San Diego on the north side of the Hall of Justice. There is a three story lobby along the east side. The upper stories have solid glass walls rising to a large concrete overhang. The roof line is flat. The building contains 71 courtrooms. The building houses the County Superior Court – Criminal. The building is the Central Courthouse.
Former County Courthouse – San Diego
Location: 220 West Broadway / Union Street
Built: 1959 – 1961
Style: Modern
Architect: Samuel W Hamill
Contractor: Unknown
Description: The building faced south and was a seven story steel, concrete and glass structure. The building was located on the east side of the Hall of Justice. The rectangular building had vertical and horizontal concrete dividers with large glass panel walls. The east and west sides of the building had a few small windows. The roof line was flat. On the southwest corner was a three story concrete addition. A three story addition extended north for two blocks. The building was demolished in 2017 when the new courthouse was completed.
History: The county was created in 1850 and San Diego was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a one story strucyure built at the corner of San Diego Street and Mason Street in 1850. The county offices moved to Whaley House in 1869. The courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1972 but a replica was constructed. The second courthouse was designed by Levi Goodrich and built in 1872. The third courthouse was designed by Comstock & Trotsche and constructed by P J McCormick in 1889 to 1892 at the corner of Front Street and D Street (Broadway). The courthouse was demolished in 1961. The fourth courthouse was constructed in 1959 to 1961 and was demolished in 2017. The Hall of Justice was constructed in 1994 to 1996. The fifth and present courthouse was constructed in 2014 to 2017 at a cost of $555,500.000.
County Administration Building – San Diego
Location: 1600 Pacific Highway / West Beech Street
Built: 1935 – 1938
Style: Spanish Renaissance
Architect: William Templeton Johnson, Richard S Requa, Louis J Gill and Samuel Hamill
Contractor: Charles Hoskins
Description: The building faces east and is a ten story steel, pink colored concrete and glass structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds on the wst side of the center of San Diego. The east front has a projecting central section with arched entrance on the first story. Behind is a tower rising another six stories with flat roof line. The red colored tile roof is hipped. There are north and south wings forming an “H” shape. An addition was constructed in 1958 and another addition was constructed in 1974. The building was constructed as the Civic Center and in 1964, the County acquired ownership of the building.
Note: The cost of construction was $1,730,474 of which the Federal Emergency Public Works Fund contributed $989,528.
Other Branch Courthouse
East County – El Canjon
North County – Vista
South County - Chukla Vista
County Hall of Justice – San Diego
Former County Courthouse (demolished) – San Diego
County Administrayion Building – San Diego
Photos taken 2013