The 

Surrogate's Courthouse (also the Hall of Records and 31 Chambers Street) is an historic

building at the northwest corner of Chambers and Centre Streets in the Civic
Center of Manhattan in New York City. Completed in 1907, it was designed in the Beaux
Arts style. John Rochester Thomas created the original plans while Arthur J. Horgan and Vincent J.
Slattery oversaw the building's completion. The building faces City Hall Park and the Tweed
Courthouse to the south and the Manhattan Municipal Building to the east.
The Surrogate's Courthouse is a seven-story, steel-framed structure with a granite facade and
elaborate marble interiors. It was designed to be fireproof to house the city's paper records safely.
The exterior is decorated with fifty-four sculptures by Philip Martiny and Henry Kirke Bush-Brown, as
well as a three-story Corinthian-style colonnade on Chambers and Reade Streets. The building's
basement houses the city's Municipal Archives. The fifth floor contains the Surrogate's Court for New
York County, which handles probate and estate proceedings for the New York State Unified Court
System.
The Hall of Records building had been planned since the late 19th century to replace an outdated
building in City Hall Park; plans for the current building were approved in 1897. Construction took
place between 1899 and 1907, having been subject to several delays because of controversies over
funding, sculptures, and Horgan and Slattery's involvement after Thomas's death in 1901. Renamed
the Surrogate's Courthouse in 1962, the building has undergone few alterations over the years. The
Surrogate's Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic
Landmark, and its facade and interior are both New York City designated landmarks.

Contents

 1Site
 2Design
o 2.1Facade
 2.1.1Sculptures
o 2.2Interior
 2.2.1Entrance vestibules
 2.2.2Lobby and lower-story spaces
 2.2.3Upper stories
 2.2.4Basement
 3History
o 3.1Planning and construction
 3.1.1Need and plans
 3.1.2Start of construction
 3.1.3Change of architect and completion
o 3.2Use
 3.2.1Early to mid-20th century
 3.2.2Late 20th century to present
 4Critical reception and landmark designations
 5See also
 6References
o 6.1Notes
o 6.2Citations
o 6.3Sources
 7External links
Site[edit]
The Surrogate's Courthouse is in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan, just north of City Hall
Park. It occupies an entire city block bounded by Chambers Street to the south, Centre Street to the
east, Reade Street to the north, and Elk Street to the west. Other nearby buildings and locations
include 49 Chambers and 280 Broadway to the west; the Ted Weiss Federal Building and African
Burial Ground National Monument to the northwest; the Thurgood Marshall United States
Courthouse to the northeast; the Manhattan Municipal Building to the east; and the Tweed
Courthouse and New York City Hall to the southwest, within City Hall Park.[5]
The ground slopes downward from south to north; the original ground elevation was below Reade
Street and close to sea level.[6] The surrounding area contains evidence of the interments of
individuals, mostly of African descent, but the foundations of the Surrogate's Courthouse may have
destroyed any remnants of corpses on the site.[7][8] In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the
Surrogate's Courthouse site was on a hill called "Pot Baker's" or "Potter's Hill", so named because
several families in the pottery industry lived or worked nearby.[9][10] The site also included a stone
reservoir maintained by the Manhattan Company from 1799 until 1842, when the Croton
Aqueduct opened. In the mid-19th century, the site contained small loft buildings.[9] Before the
completion of Elk Street in 1901,[a] the site was part of a larger city block bounded by Broadway and
Chambers, Centre, and Reade Streets.[11]

Design[edit]
The Surrogate's Courthouse was designed in the Beaux-Arts style, John Rochester Thomas being
the original architect. After Thomas's death in 1901, Arthur J. Horgan and Vincent J.
Slattery oversaw the completion of the plan.[1][12] Their relatively unknown firm had connections to the
politically powerful Tammany Hall organization of the time. The final design largely conforms to
Thomas's original plans, though Horgan and Slattery were mostly responsible for the sculptural
ornamentation.[12] Fay Kellogg, who designed the prominent double staircase in the building's lobby,
helped prepare plans for the Hall of Records.[13] The building has undergone relatively few alterations
since its completion in 1907.[14]
The Surrogate's Courthouse's seven-story granite facade wraps around the building's structural
frame, while the interiors are elaborately designed in marble.[15] The building was designed to be
fireproof to house the city's paper records safely.[15] The interior spaces are popular with film and
television production companies and have been used in many commercials, TV series, and movies.
[14][16]
 Besides housing the Surrogate's Court for New York County, the building contains the New York
City Municipal Archives and the New York City Department of Records and Information
Services (DORIS)'s City Hall Library,[17] and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.[18]

Facade[edit]

Detail of the mansard roof

The facade of the Surrogate's Courthouse consists mostly of granite from Hallowell, Maine,
with ashlar masonry.[15][19] It is split vertically into a two-story rusticated base, a three-story midsection,
a sixth story and a seventh story in a mansard roof. The northern and southern elevations are split
vertically into five bays, with multiple windows on each floor in the center bays, while the western
and eastern elevations are split into three bays.[15][19]
The central portion of the southern (Chambers Street) elevation contains three double-height arched
doorways, each of which contains a pair of doors and a window with bronze grilles.[15][20] The
doorways are flanked by granite columns, each cast from a single granite slab and topped by
modified composite capitals.[20][21] This entrance was wainscoted entirely with Siena marble at the
building's completion.[21] There are side entrances at the center of the western elevation on Elk
Street, from which there is a small flight of steps, as well as at the center of the eastern elevation on
Centre Street.[22] The Reade Street elevation contains a wheelchair-accessible entrance.[23]
On the northern and southern elevations, the central five windows of the third through fifth stories
are flanked by a projecting Corinthian style colonnade with four single columns between two paired
columns at either end. On all four elevations, the outermost bays are designed with window
openings on the second, third, fifth, and sixth stories, and sculptures around porthole windows on
the fourth story. The remaining six windows on the north and south, and the center nine windows on
the west and east, are slightly recessed behind the end bays, with different window designs on each
story.[19] An entablature and a cornice runs above the fifth story, and another cornice runs above the
sixth story.[15][19] The seventh story contains dormer windows with carved hoods, projecting from the
mansard roof in all except the end bays.[19]
Sculptures[edit]
The exterior features fifty-four sculptures by Philip Martiny and Henry Kirke Bush-Brown.[14][21] Martiny
was hired for the main sculptural groups, while Bush-Brown designed the smaller sculptures.[24] Like
the rest of the facade, the statues were carved from Hallowell granite.[25][26]
On Chambers and Centre Streets, Martiny carved 24 standing figures at the sixth floor, under the
cornice.[25][27] These sculptures depict eminent figures from the city's past, including Peter
Stuyvesant, DeWitt Clinton, David Pietersen De Vries, and mayors Caleb Heathcote, Abram Stevens
Hewitt, Philip Hone, Cadwallader David Colden and James Duane.[14][21][26] Martiny also designed the
groups of sculptures flanking the Chambers and Centre Street entrances.[25][27] Three sculptures flank
the Chambers Street entrance, while two originally flanked the Centre Street entrance.[27] The Centre
Street sculptures, depicting Justice and Authority, were removed in 1959;[28] they were relocated to
the New York County Courthouse.[29][30]
On all four sides, Bush-Brown designed groups of allegorical figures for the roof.[14][21][31] The figures
were arranged in standing, sitting, or reclining postures. Figures
depicting Heritage and Maternity are at the base of the central dormer on Chambers Street. Above
the central Chambers Street dormer is a clock with a dial measuring 4 feet (1.2 m) across, flanked
by figures of Poetry and Philosophy and topped by four cherubs and two caryatids.[25][26][32] A similar
dormer at the center of Reade Street has figures depicting Instruction, Study, Law, and History. The
central Centre Street dormer has figures of Inscription and Custody and the central dormer on the
west side has Industry and Commerce.[25][26][33]

Interior[edit]
Entrance vestibules[edit]
Chambers Street vestibule ceiling, by William de Leftwich Dodge

The rectangular entrance vestibule from Chambers Street contains rusticated yellow marble-clad
walls. Just opposite the arched entryways is an arcade with decorative cartouches. Double doors
made of mahogany are set within marble doorways at either end of the vestibule.[20] The German
sculptor Albert Weinert created two marble sculptural groups, one above each set of doorways;
these depict the 1624 purchase of Manhattan Island and the 1898 creation of the City of Greater
New York.[20][26][34] The vestibule's elliptical ceiling contains mosaic murals and panels created
by William de Leftwich Dodge.[14][35][36] Of the four mosaic murals, three depict the probate process (in
reference to the Surrogates' Court) and the other depicts the continuity of records.[35][36] The ceiling's
triangular mosaic panels depict Egyptian and Greek motifs along with zodiac signs.[30][36] The mosaic
tiles are mostly colored red, green, and blue on dull gold.[14][36] The vestibule also contains a bronze
chandelier, ornamental bronze radiators and a patterned marble floor.[36]
Smaller entrance vestibules also exist on the west and east ends of the Surrogate's Courthouse;
they are largely similar, except for the steps outside the west vestibule. Decorative bronze-and-glass
enclosures frame the doorways, while there are mosaic lunettes over the two side doors from the
vestibules.[22] In the elliptical ceiling vaults of these vestibules, Dodge also designed mosaics set in
glass. The mosaics are generally blue and gold but have green and rose accent strips.[22][35] The
ceiling is divided into several panels with decorative elements like garlands, urns,
and acanthus scrolls.[37]
Lobby and lower-story spaces[edit]

View of the main lobby, with a staircase leading to the second floor

The entrance vestibules lead to the main lobby, a triple-story space whose design was inspired by
that of the Palais Garnier, the opera house of the Paris Opera.[21][38] Yellow Sienna marble was used
throughout the lobby. Surrounding the lobby space on the first floor is an arched gallery with
rusticated piers, scrolled keystones, red marble roundels, and garlands linking the roundels and
keystones. A decorative frieze runs above the first floor gallery. A marble double staircase with
balustrade flanks the western entrance archway on the first floor, ascending two flights to an
intermediate landing, where a single flight leads to the second floor. On the second floor is a
colonnaded gallery containing engaged columns with Ionic-style capitals. The tops of the lobby walls
contain decorative entablatures.[38] The ceiling has a bronze elliptical arched vault reaching the height
of the third floor.[30][38] Within the arched vault is a gable-shaped skylight measuring 40 by 60 feet (12
by 18 m).[16]
The hallways on the first floor contain marble walls and multicolored patterned marble floors. The
passageways contain groin vaulted ceilings with chandeliers. There are recessed mahogany double-
doors leading to the offices, as well as red marble roundels above each doorway. Service functions,
such as fuse boxes, are contained within bronze boxes.[39] The second-floor gallery's arches divide
the gallery into bays. Within each bay, there are shallow, domed ceilings supported on
decorative pendentives, and a cornice runs beneath each dome. On the walls, there are arched
openings with mahogany double doors. Above the double staircase in the lobby, a balustraded
staircase rises from the second-floor gallery to the third floor, with an intermediate landing above the
double stairway.[37]
Upper stories[edit]
The third through fifth floors are largely similar in plan and surround an interior light court above the
lobby. These floors are connected by a staircase similar in design to the one connecting the second
and third floors. The floor surfaces of the third through fifth stories are made of mosaic tile, and the
walls consist of gray-veined marble panels. Each story contains different decorative designs on the
frames surrounding the doorways and on the openings facing the light court.[37]
The two Surrogates' courtrooms, on the fifth floor,[40] handle probate and estate proceedings for the
New York State Unified Court System.[41] Part of the original design, the rooms contain similar layouts
with minor differences in decorative detail.[40] The courtrooms have gilded, paneled plaster ceilings
with decorative reliefs and ornate chandeliers.[21][30][40] The north courtroom is finished in Santo
Domingo mahogany and has four carved panels signifying wisdom, truth, civilization and
degradation, as well as six repeating motifs and several portraits of surrogates. The south courtroom
is finished in English oak, with French Renaissance style decorative elements.[21][40][14] Overlooking
each courtroom is a marble balcony, reached by staircases in the respective courtrooms. There are
also ornately carved fireplaces, which contain marble mantelpieces lined with bronze surrounds
made by Tiffany & Co..[21][40] The seventh floor and the attic housed the city's records on steel shelves
until 2017.[42]
Basement[edit]
The vaults of the building's basement extend underneath both Chambers and Reade Streets,
descending 40 feet (12 m) under Chambers Street and 30 feet (9.1 m) under Reade Street.[8] The
Surrogate's Courthouse had been designed with a small power plant in the basement,[21] which
provided power to the building and served neighboring municipally owned buildings.[43]
The basement contains the municipal government's City Hall Library as well as the Municipal
Archives.[44] The library consists of two publicly accessible reading rooms, as well as several
storerooms beneath the main basement for the Municipal Archives. The collection contains over
400,000 publications, including 66,000 books and 285,000 newspapers, journals, magazines, and
periodical clippings.[45] The material in the collection totals over 200,000 cubic feet (5,700 m3).[17][46]