Eleven stories of Bedford limestone crown this hill: the Milwaukee County Courthouse, completed in 1931 as the third courthouse in the city's history. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its story begins not here but with the first two courthouses at what is now Cathedral Square Park on the east side of the Milwaukee River. Situated on the crown of a hill, this eleven-story courthouse rises 174 feet (54 m) and presents a proud Neoclassical face to the city.
The building was designed by New York architect Albert Randolph Ross with the firm McKim, Mead & White, selected by a jury over 32 other architects in a 1927 design competition. Look closely: the courthouse is clad in Bedford limestone and embellished with Beaux-Arts influenced details and sculpture — you’ll spot carved owls and lion heads in the stone. The masonry work was completed by Andres Stone and Marble Company, whose owner Edgar Andres and his family also helped build the library and a local bank now home to the Milwaukee Historical Society.
The National Register nomination even called it “the most monumental of all Neoclassical courthouses in the state. Notice the Bedford limestone façade, the carved owls and lion heads, and the hill this courthouse still crowns.