These historical documents are provided courtesy of the Appellate Division, First Department Law Library & Eugene Preudhomme.
At this time, we feature here various histories of the building housing the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Judicial Department, on the corner of Madison Avenue and 25th Street in New York City. This court is one of four intermediate appellate courts in the State, composed of the Counties of New York and the Bronx. We plan to add to this collection materials on the architectural history of the courthouses where the other three State appellate courts sit. These include: the Second Department, 45 Monroe Place, Brooklyn, New York; the Third Department, Empire State Plaza, State Street, Albany, New York; and the Fourth Department, 50 East Avenue, Rochester, New York.
New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department
The gorgeous First Department courthouse was designed by architect James Brown Lord, commissioned by the Justices in 1896. The building was conceived as an expression of the ideals of the law. Lord was responsible for the construction as well as the art and decoration of the building. It opened its doors in 1900.
