Maefair Apartment fire hearing. It was determined after a long hearing that unfortunately the loss of nineteen lives occurred primarily because of human error. No criminal negligence was found. (T. Times, 3/2/45, p. 1).

Courtrooms--Tacoma; Judicial proceedings--Tacoma; Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma);

On Friday December 3, 1948, Judge Hugh J. Rosellini signed the death warrant for Jake Bird; the warrant orders Bird to be hanged on January 14, 1949. Bird was arrested for the Tacoma axe murders of Bertha and Beverly June Kludt earlier this year. The serial killer later confessed to participating in more than forty other murders. This will be Bird's second trip to the death house at Walla Walla Penitentiary, Governor Mon C. Wallgren ordered an investigation, which delayed the initial hearing. All available deputies were ordered to accompany Jake Bird to the Pierce County Court House and to secure the exterior of the building on Friday December 3, 1948. Bird told Patrick M. Steele, Pierce County Prosecutor, "Maybe you've got me this time and maybe you haven't". View of Jake Bird, in handcuffs, being escorted into Judge Rosellini's courtroom (T. Times, 12/1-3/48, p. 1).

Hangings--Tacoma; Homicides--Tacoma; Criminals--Tacoma; Confessions; Judicial proceedings--Tacoma; Courthouses--Tacoma; Actions & defenses--Tacoma; Bird, Jake--Trials, Litigation, etc.; Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma);

Man outside County Commissioners office, Times. This unidentified man was photographed on September 11, 1947. He wore glasses and casual attire. He appears to be holding a cigar in his right hand with two more in his shirt pocket.

Offices--Tacoma--1940-1950; Courthouses--Tacoma--1940-1950; Men--Tacoma--1940-1950; Eyeglasses;

Port of Tacoma for Times Special Edition, studio stock, B of R. The exterior of the Old Pierce County Court House showing one of the entryways to the building. The arched doorway is set between two pilasters. Attached columns are set immediately adjacent to the doorway which is topped with decorative windows while separated by a frieze from casement windows.

Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma); Courthouses--Tacoma; Architectural elements--Tacoma; Doors & doorways--Tacoma;

Port of Tacoma for Times Special Edition, studio stock, B of R. The exterior of the Old Pierce County Court House. The ornate building, patterned after the Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that was designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, was built in 1892. Proctor and Dennis served as architects and John T. Long was the contractor. It was built of Wilkeson and Pittsburg grey freestone and finished with Tenino bluestone. The clock tower stood 230 feet while the building's three stories measured 226 feet by 102 feet. The building was demolished in 1959. The building had turrets with conical spires and tall finials, round-arched windows, and a steeply pitched roof with hipped roof projections. A balustrade marks a balcony over one of the building's arched entryways.

Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma); Courthouses--Tacoma; Clock towers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Roofs--Tacoma; Spires--Tacoma; Architectural elements--Tacoma;

Current location of Tacoma Public Library's Main Branch with the Armory and Courthouse in the background. Printed on front: Carnegie Library, Court House and State Armory, Tacoma, Wn.

Picture of the courthouse of Tacoma

Printed on front: The State Armory Showing Court House, Tacoma, Wash.

Printed on front: Armory and Court House, Tacoma, Wash 611.

Scenic view of Mount Rainier with the Pierce County Court House on the left and the old courthouse on the right.

A pile of slot machines awaits the sledgehammer of Chief Deputy Sheriff John Piper on October 9, 1929 at the county courthouse. These were a sample of the 39 slots ordered destroyed following seizure by county officers from various places of businesses in Pierce County. A total of $244.85 in nickels, dimes and quarters was taken from the machines. This amount, less $10 for trucking, was turned over to the county school fund. The machines, minus their cash, were taken to the waterfront and dumped into Commencement Bay. (TNT 10-10-29, p. 17) TPL-8466;

The view around South 11th in downtown Tacoma has changed dramatically since this photograph of the Pierce County Courthouse, located at 1012 South "G" St., was taken in August of 1924. The lush trees are gone and the buildings altered or demolished, including the courthouse itself in 1959. The lawn on the left side of the street is now part of Bates Technical College and the wooden sidewalk directly across it transformed into ordinary cement. The wood building at the corner of South 11th & Altheimer remains but now houses the CJ Johnson Bail Bonds. Where the courthouse once stood is now parking for the County-City Building. TPL-3269; G17.1-081

Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma); Courthouses--Tacoma; Streets--Tacoma--1920-1930;

View of the Pierce County Courthouse in 1924 featuring the 230-foot stone clock tower. The massive Romanesque structure was built in 1892 and was patterned after the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania courthouse designed by Henry Hobson Richardson. At the far left is the First Presbyterian Church, 1001 South "G," which would be acquired the following year and transformed into Central Lutheran Church. Both structures and surrounding trees would be demolished with the courthouse falling in 1959 and the church in 1955. G17.1-078; BU-10,713

Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma); Courthouses--Tacoma; First Presbyterian Church (Tacoma);

After wedding portrait of Mary Ellen Miller and Don Carlson in front of the Pierce County Court House. As more young men were drafted or enlisted, weddings were hurriedly placed on the social calendar, often with the young woman travelling to the military base where her intended was stationed. The Pierce County Courthouse became a revolving door for young couples wanting to be united before he left for "over there." [Also dated. 08-14-1942]

Miller, Mary Ellen--Marriage; Carlson, Don; Weddings--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Three unidentified men are pictured in the County Auditor's office in the Pierce County Courthouse on September 30, 1942.

Municipal government--Tacoma--1940-1950;

The Pierce County Sheriff's Department force including patrolmen, detectives, and Pierce County Sheriff H.W. "Lee " Croft posed on the steps of the Pierce County Courthouse in December of 1945. Sheriff Croft (center, first row) was first elected to his position in 1942. He was a former logger, gold miner, heavyweight boxer, checkers enthusiast and longtime operator of the Croft Hotel on Pacific Ave. Lee Croft served two terms as sheriff and passed away in December of 1951.

Sheriffs--Pierce County--1940-1950; Pierce County Sheriffs (Tacoma); Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma); Courthouses--Tacoma; Croft, Lee

James B. Mitchell was tried and convicted for the murder of Dr. John R. Thompson. Mitchell confessed to slaying two people from Tacoma, Bruce Gullett was the other person killed by Mitchell, but his case would be tried at a later date. Judge Fred G. Remann presided over the hearings. View of James B. Mitchell being led into or out of the court room, he is wearing handcuffs (T. Times, 4/17/47, p. 1).

Shooting--Tacoma; Mitchell, James B.--Judicial proceedings; Actions & defenses--Tacoma; Homicides--Tacoma; Death--Tacoma; Handcuffs; Courthouses--Tacoma; Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma);

In late November 1949 workers dismantled the upper 27 feet of the Pierce County Courthouse tower which had been severely damaged in the earthquake of April 13, 1949. The open part of the topmost part of the tower was taken down stone by stone, lowered to the ground with a specially built exterior elevator, and the stone was hauled away. This view from inside the tower, through the broken face of the clock once housed there, looks across Central School and downtown Tacoma towards Commencement Bay and Browns Point. The clock had a 10-foot face and the glass cover was about 3/8" thick. (TNT, 11/20/1949, p.A-5)

Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma); Courthouses--Tacoma; Towers--Tacoma; Clocks & watches; Historic buildings--Tacoma; Earthquakes--Tacoma--1940-1950; Damage to property; Demolition--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Blocks used for sidewalks on Consumer's Central Heating System at Pierce County Court House, Holroyd Company, Jim Holroyd. A workman is laying concrete blocks on either side of the pipe that provided steam throughout much of downtown Tacoma using an underground distribution system. The central generating plant used hogged fuel (mill refuse) from local sawmills. (TDL, 5/26/1931)

Holroyd Co. (Tacoma); Consumer's Central Heating Co. (Tacoma); Building materials--Tacoma; Concrete products industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Heating & ventilation industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Copy of drawing, architect's sketch of design for lowering the tower of the Pierce County Courthouse which was damaged in the 1949 earthquake. Lance, McGuire and Muri, Architects. As of July 31st county commissioners revealed that structural weaknesses necessitated the removal of the tower. Estimates showed it would cost at least $60,000 to reinforce the tower sufficiently to allow it to remain. The Tacoma Architects' Society had petitioned the commissioners to spare the tower as it was "a noble example" of the Romanesque style. Removal of the tower and substitution of an ornamental peaked roof just above what would be the sixth floor level was estimated at $35,000. (TNT, 7/31/1949, p.1)

Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma); Architectural Drawings; Lance, McGuire & Muri (Tacoma); Courthouses--Tacoma; Towers--Tacoma;

The Pierce County Treasurer's office was located on the first floor of the Pierce County Court House, at 1012 South G Street. In 1949 The Pierce County Treasurer was Leander R. Johnson. Interior view of the treasurer's office, county employees are reviewing county treasury information; the man behind the three men in foreground, is looking through a city directory. TPL-8391

County government--Tacoma; Government employees--Tacoma; Government officials--Tacoma; Treasuries--Tacoma; Civil service--Tacoma--1940-1950; Pierce County Treasurer (Tacoma);

Judge Waldo Stone, center, is seated in front of the Auditor's Office in this sepia photograph taken on July 1, 1954. There is a marriage licenses sign behind him indicating that office hours were from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The two men in the photograph with Judge Stone are T.J. "Pat" O'Brien and Armand R. Moceri of Sumner. Mr. Moceri would announce his candidacy for the 25th District state representative in August, 1954. Mr. O'Brien would seek election to the post of county accessor; he had been elected constable in 1950. (TNT 8-23-54, p. 9, TNT 9-5-54, A-2))

Stone, Waldo; Judges; O'Brien, T.J.; Moceri, Armand R.; Signs (Notices);

ca. 1936. Pierce County Courthouse. From the time it was built in 1892 till it was demolished in 1959, the Romanesque turrets of the Courthouse were a familiar landmark in Tacoma. The building was designed by Proctor & Dennis, architects, and was patterned after the courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Henry Hobson Richardson. It was an imposing structure for a city with large aspirations. The three story building was built of Wilkeson grey freestone finished with Tenino bluestone. Its focus was a tall clock tower that was damaged in the 1949 earthquake. A167500-36. (TPL-2532, TPL-4031 and TPL-6670)

Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma); Courthouses--Tacoma; Historic buildings--Tacoma;