Ramsey County Courthouse

The 18-story Perpendicular Moderne style building was designed by Thomas Ellerbe & Co. of St. Paul and Holabird & Root of Chicago.  It is built of smooth Indiana limestone and was dedicated in December 1932 by William D. Mitchell, U.S. Attorney General and son of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice William Mitchell.

Inside, the building is finished in the Art Deco style.  Twenty-three different kinds of wood are used in the woodwork, furniture, and paneling.  Five kinds of imported marble walls and floors were cut and dressed by local artisans.  The entrance relief sculpture was carved by Lee Lawrie, whose larger figures can be found at Rockefeller Center in New York City.  Four vertical murals in the council chamber were done by John Norton of Chicago, an associate of Frank Lloyd Wright.  The six bronze elevator doors were made by Albert Stewart of New York.

Dominating the dark marble, three-story, memorial concourse along the Fourth Street entrance is Carl Milles' creamy white onyx Indian God of Peace.  The statute stands 38 feet tall and is placed on a base that turns the figure 132 degrees every 2.5 hours.  The 60-ton Native American and his peace pipe are a memorial to the war dead.

- Historical information adapted from "The First 100 Years... The Minnesota State Bar Association."