Androscoggin County Courthouse and Jail
2 Turner St., Auburn, METhis impressive landmark on Auburn's main street is a finely detailed Rennaissance Revival structure that has the added distinction of having been designed by Gridley J. P. Bryant, a distinguished Boston architect who designed a number of Maine's important buildings. The erection of this structure also marks the culmination of the long struggle to establish Androscoggin County as a new county made up of towns from four adjoining counties.
Bryant, who was a major New England designer in the mid19th century, specialized in public and institutional buildings. Born is Boston, he first worked in the office of the well-known architect, Alexander Parris, and established his own practice in 1837. As one of the most prolific architects in the region, Bryant produced plans for major buildings as far away as San Francisco, where he designed the United States Custom House. Another major work of his was the Boston City Hall of 1860-62. Major buildings which he designed in Maine include the United States Custom House in Eastport (NR.), in Eastport (NR.), the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta, and the Knox County Courthouse in Rockland (N.R.), and Hathorn Hall (N.R.) at Bates College in Lewiston.
The controversy over the establishment of Androscoggin County was a stormy one and even more contentious was the question of the location of its shire town. When Auburn was finally selected in 1854, plans to erect the court house were when it was completed in 1857 it stood as a symbol of the final settlement of the dispute.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.