Spotlight: Passaic County Courthouse

By Mike Mathis

Judiciary Times Editor

Passaic County was created from parts of Essex and Bergen counties under the same legislation that created Atlantic County in 1837. Similar to many other New Jersey counties in the 19th Century, as the population of Passaic County grew, the need for suitable space for court functions also increased.

When Passaic County was formed, court sessions were held in a private home in Paterson, later known as the Passaic Hotel, and then in a Methodist church before a permanent courthouse and jail were built at Main and Oliver streets in Paterson, according to the book The History of Bergen and Passaic Counties, New Jersey. The courthouse was dedicated on July 10, 1839 and was enlarged between 1871 and 1872.

Just 20 years later, county officials recognized that the building still lacked sufficient space for the courts and county offices. In March 1895, the Passaic County Board of Freeholders decided to erect a new courthouse and in December, a courthouse commission comprised of three citizens was formed to oversee the construction of a building at 71 Hamilton St. in Paterson.

A total of $350,000 was allocated for the project, an amount that climbed to $500,000, which included furnishings and equipment. S. Burrage Reed of New York City was selected from 48 architects who submitted design proposals for the four-story building, which was constructed of marble, granite, limestone and a thin copper shell covering the dome. The rotunda area, with a glass circular pattern that is imbedded in the marble floor, is considered one of the most unique indoor spaces in New Jersey. The cornerstone was placed in April 1898 and the building was open to the public in January 1903. The building’s third floor features a gallery of oil paintings of retired judges. In the early 1970’s, a group of lawyers and judges raised funds to partially restore the oil paintings of judges that were located throughout the courthouse. The second building to be added to the court complex is the Passaic County Courthouse Annex. The former Paterson Post Office, the building features a brick fa?ade trimmed with beige limestone, an arched entrance, paired ornamental windows, an intersecting gable roof with stepped gable parapets and an ornate tower. The building opened in October 1899. The freeholders became interested in the building to house county offices in the 1930s and purchased it in 1936. The U.S. Postal Service moved into a larger facility on Dill Plaza, a section of Ward Street, where it remains today.

Both the courthouse and annex buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. The modern Passaic County Court House at 77 Hamilton St. was constructed in 1968 to house the courts and county administrative offices. The adjacent Passaic County Administration Building at 401 Grand St. was built in 1994.