U.S. Courthouse
About this property
The Santiago E. Campos United States Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located at Santa Fe in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. Formerly designated simply as the United States Courthouse, it was renamed for the late District Judge Santiago E. Campos in 2004. The building had its beginnings as the proposed territorial capitol for New Mexico. In 1848 under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded what is now New Mexico, Arizona, California, Texas, and portions of Colorado, Utah and Nevada, to the United States. The New Mexico territorial government was established two years later. In 1851 Congress appropriated $20,000 and in 1854 an additional $50,000 to construct a "state house" on what is now Federal Plaza. Plans for the building were prepared by the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, Ammi B. Young, perhaps based on sketches by Chief Justice Joab Houghton, a member of the U.S. Territorial Supreme Court for New Mexico. Construction began in 1853, with the walls rising one-and-one-half stories above the basement by the following year. Construction continued intermittently due to limited funding, lack of competent workmen, and difficulties imposed by the Civil War. As the years wore on, the half-built structure was essentially abandoned. In 1883 the building grounds were chosen as the site for Santa Fe's "Tertio-Millennial" celebration, and the building shell received a temporary roof. The grounds were cleared and an oval racetrack, about 1/3 mile long, was set up surrounding the site. Indian participants were housed in the first floor during the celebration. The "state house" was finally finished in 1889, although it was never used for this purpose. Instead, at its completion, it was occupied by a land claims court and has housed various federal courts since that time. The territorial capitol building was constructed on another site in Santa Fe between 1895 and 1900. New Mexico became a state in 1912. As the needs of the courts exceeded the building's capacity, an addition was planned that echoed the original Greek Revival style. This addition was built in 1929-1930 under the direction of Louis A. Simon, Superintendent of the Architectural Section of the Treasury Department. It more than doubled the overall size of the courthouse. The U.S. Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The courthouse is located adjacent to the Santa Fe Post Office in Federal Plaza. The plaza is enclosed by a stone wall with metal pipe railings that follows the outline of the 1883 racetrack. The Greek Revival courthouse building, originally intended to be the capitol, was constructed in two stages; the first in 1853-1854 and the second in 1888-1889. The Greek Revival style of the original design with prominent pediment and porticos is characteristic of the work of Ammi B. Young, Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department. However, other elements of the design including the roof and second-story window treatments have a character more reminiscent of the Renaissance Revival architectural style of the late 1880s. To the north of the original building is a 1929-30 addition. Both buildings are rectangular, and are oriented parallel to each other, with the addition being slightly smaller than the original building. A two-story vestibule, built at the same time as the addition, connects the buildings at their midpoints. A semicircular projecting bay on the vestibule's east elevation encloses an elegant, interlocking cantilevered stairway.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was U.S. Courthouse listed on the National Register?
U.S. Courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 1973.
What type of historic resource is U.S. Courthouse?
U.S. Courthouse is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for U.S. Courthouse?
The period of significance for U.S. Courthouse is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near U.S. Courthouse?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near U.S. Courthouse will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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