{{Short description|Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Pioneer Courthouse | nrhp_type = nhl | designated_other1_name = Portland Historic Landmark<ref>{{citation|author=Portland Historic Landmarks Commission|title=Historic Landmarks -- Portland, Oregon|format=XLS|date=July 2010|url=http://www.portlandonline.com/planning/index.cfm?c=44013&a=146276|accessdate=November 13, 2013}}.</ref> | designated_other1_color = lightgreen | image = Pioneer Courthouse Portland.JPG | caption = The Pioneer Courthouse as viewed from Pioneer Courthouse Square after 2005 renovations. | location = 700 SW 6th Avenue<br>Portland, Oregon | coordinates = {{coord|45.518624|-122.678360|region:US-OR_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = USA Portland downtown#Oregon#USA | map_caption = Location within downtown Portland | area = | built = 1869 | architect = Alfred B. Mullett | architecture = Italianate | designated_nrhp_type = May 5, 1977<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1365&ResourceType=Building|title=Pioneer Courthouse|accessdate=2007-11-19|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210015405/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1365&ResourceType=Building|archive-date=2007-12-10|url-status=dead}}</ref> | added = March 20, 1973<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref> | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | refnum = 73001582 | mpsub = }} thumb|right|The Pioneer Courthouse (Custom House and Post Office) in 1901 thumb|Interior The '''Pioneer Courthouse''' is a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, United States. Built beginning in 1869, the structure is the oldest federal building in the Pacific Northwest, and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River.<ref name="ORLIVE">{{cite news |title=Pioneer courthouse's bare earth will soon sprout native plants |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/1160432721261470.xml&coll=7 |work=The Oregonian |date=October 12, 2006 |accessdate=2007-01-21 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110032321/http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fportland_news%2F1160432721261470.xml&coll=7 |archivedate=November 10, 2006 }}
</ref> Along with Pioneer Courthouse Square, it serves as the center of downtown Portland. It is also known as the '''Pioneer Post Office''' because a popular downtown Portland post office was, until 2005, located inside. The courthouse is one of four primary locations where the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit hears oral arguments. It also houses the chambers of the Portland-based judges on the Ninth Circuit.
==History== Built in stages between 1869 and 1903, it was first occupied in 1875 by judge Matthew Deady.<ref name=rose>Leeson, Fred. (1998). ''Rose City Justice: A Legal History of Portland, Oregon''. Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 13-15, 21-26, 47-48, 52.</ref> At that time, the building was named the United States Building.<ref name=rose/> Pioneer Courthouse has survived several attempts to demolish it, while continuing to function as a federal facility. On March 20, 1973, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref name="NRHP">[http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/OR/Multnomah/state8.html National Register of Historic Places in Multnomah County, Oregon]</ref> It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977.<ref name="nhlsum"/><ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Cite web|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: United States Courthouse, Custom House and Post Office / The Pioneer Courthouse|url={{NHLS url|id=73001582}} |format=pdf|date=February 17, 1977 |author=Carolyn Pitts |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url|id=73001582|title=''Accompanying 5 photos, exterior and interior, from 1973 and undated.''|photos=y}} {{small|(367 KiB)}}</ref>
In March 1933, city engineer Olaf Laurgaard proposed tearing down the building to open a parking garage.<ref name="maccoll">{{cite book|last=MacColl|first=E. Kimbark|title=The Growth of a City: Power and Politics in Portland, Oregon 1915-1950|publisher=The Georgian Press|location=Portland, Oregon|isbn=0-9603408-1-5|year=1979}}</ref> John C. Ainsworth asked Oregon representative Charles Martin and Charles L. McNary to see if President Franklin D. Roosevelt would consider giving the structure and property to the city of Portland.<ref name="maccoll" /> Portland would then renovate the structure for the Oregon Historical Society and The Colonial Dames of America to use.<ref name="maccoll" /> Martin immediately replied that the timing was bad since Oregon was asking for funding of the Bonneville Dam, and it was likely illegal to donate a post office to a city.<ref name="maccoll" /> Ainsworth quickly came up with a new scheme: demolish the Pioneer Courthouse and build an office building for the Historical Society, the Boy Scouts, a theater, and a museum.<ref name="maccoll" /> A. E. Doyle, his architectural firm, the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Colonial Dames, and ''The Oregon Journal'' sharply opposed destroying the building.<ref name="maccoll" />
In 2003, plans for renovating the courthouse sparked an unusual conflict between Portland Democratic congressmen Earl Blumenauer and David Wu. Wu, whose district contained the courthouse, supported a plan that included removing the post office from the courthouse, and adding five parking spaces in its basement. Wu's plan was ultimately adopted, and the $23.4 million renovation of the building was completed in December 2005.<ref>{{cite news |author=Senior, Jeanie and Don Hamilton |title=Often at odds, politicos go postal |url=http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=19400 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095731/http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=19400 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |work=Portland Tribune |date=July 29, 2003 |access-date=2007-01-21 }}</ref> The work included the addition of base isolators to protect the historic structure from earthquakes, the secure judges' parking area under the building, and the renovation of the lobby where the post office had been.<ref name="ORLIVE"/>
==Notable trials== thumb|left|The Pioneer Courthouse at dusk in 2013 The trials of the Oregon land fraud scandal were held in the courthouse, beginning in 1904.<ref name=End>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/oregonendoftrail00writrich |title= Oregon: End of the Trail |author= Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Oregon |series= American Guide Series |year= 1940 |publisher= Binfords & Mort |location= Portland, Oregon |pages= [https://archive.org/details/oregonendoftrail00writrich/page/213 213]–214 |oclc= 4874569}}</ref> These trials were documented at length in Stephen A. Douglas Puter's book ''Looters of the Public Domain''.<ref name=End/>
==See also== * List of the oldest buildings in the United States * {{anl|Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse}} * National Historic Landmarks in Oregon * National Register of Historic Places listings in South and Southwest Portland, Oregon * {{anl|Old Courthouse (St. Louis)}} * {{anl|Pioneer Courthouse Square}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110130081053/http://www.gsa.gov/portal/ext/html/site/hb/category/25431/actionParameter/exploreByBuilding/buildingId/031 General Services Administration page on the Pioneer Courthouse] {{Oregon Courthouses}} {{NHLs in OR}} {{National Register of Historic Places Oregon}} {{Portal bar|Architecture|National Register of Historic Places|Oregon}}
Category:1869 establishments in Oregon Category:Alfred B. Mullett buildings Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Courthouses in Oregon Category:Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon Category:Federal courthouses in the United States Category:Government buildings completed in 1875 Category:Government buildings in Portland, Oregon Category:National Historic Landmarks in Oregon Category:National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Oregon Category:Portland Historic Landmarks Category:Buildings and structures in Southwest Portland, Oregon Category:Tourist attractions in Portland, Oregon Category:United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit