This 525-room $3 million Hillsborough County Courthouse, the fourth one in Tampa, opened in 1952 and occupies two city blocks. Considered ultra-modern at the time, the concrete and marble 186,000 sq. ft. building was constructed on the former site of the Madison Street School. The interior design included intricate grain patterns of imported and domestic natural woods, combined with glass, chrome, steel, and copper. Marble walls and terrazzo floors completed the modern interior look. With 550 locking doors, the building supervisor needed 2,000 keys made on special blanks the day it opened. A courthouse Annex was built in 1962, and the North Annex was built in 1984.

The 332,000-square foot, $42.9 million George E. Edgecomb Courthouse opened in 2004 and was built at the corner of Jefferson Street and Twiggs Street, one block northeast of this building. Named after the first African-American county judge in Hillsborough County, it now serves as the main courthouse.  This entire complex is now used as a courthouse annex and administrative building.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved