New York State Court of Appeals

Designed by local architect Henry Rector in the Greek Revival style, the New York State Court of Appeals was originally constructed in 1842 to house state offices, such as the Comptroller, the State Architect, and the State Supreme Court. It served in this capacity for 75 years until it was officially dedicated as the home of the Court of Appeals on January 8, 1917. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 for its architecture and important political and legal functions.

The building was originally called New State Hall and was the first public building erected in Albany since the Revolutionary War. Concerns that the Old State Hall was vulnerable to fire prompted the construction of a new one. The facade of the building has retained its original Greek Revival style. Prominent features include the large portico on west side that features columns supporting an entablature and pediment, and a 40-foot diameter dome covering an interior rotunda. The columns were constructed to resemble those of the Temple of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. The scroll-like element at the top of each is emblematic of the Ionic Order, one of the three orders in classical architecture. The marble for the facade was quarried at the Sing Sing state prison in Mt. Pleasant.

The appeals court was established in 1846 and was housed in the Old State Capitol building until moving into the New State Hall in 1917 (the building was renamed Court of Appeals Hall, its official name). The court chamber was designed in 1881 by Henry Hobson Richardson with striking oak furniture and unique fixtures such as a fireplace made out of Mexican onyx. The walls are covered in oak panels and the ceiling features oak timbers. The room was dissembled and moved into the new building piece by piece. It is now considered to be one of the finest remaining 19th century government chambers in the country.

Renovations and expansions of the building were undertaken in the late 1950s and again in the early 2000s. These added two wings on either side of the original building, increased and reorganized interior office space and provided updates to systems like plumbing and wiring. 

"Court of Appeals of the State of New York: Restoration and Renovation 1842-2004." New York Courts. January 01, 2004. Accessed March 06, 2017. https://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/news/1230LB.pdf.

"New York State Court of Appeals Building." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. February 18, 1971. https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/71000520.pdf.

Photo Sources:

Photo of Facade: By Daniel Case (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of Chamber: By Daniel Case (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of temple: By Steve Swayne [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons