LAW LIBRARY
20 N. Sutter Street Stockton, California 95202
209 468 3920 fax: 209 468 9968 email: info@sjclawlib.org
THE SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY COURTHOUSE
The background for this website is a photograph of the third San Joaquin County Courthouse.
San Joaquin County was one of the first 27 counties created when California was admitted as a state in 1850. An abandoned ship was used temporarily as the first county courthouse from 1849 to 1851 until a real building could be completed. The land upon which the county courthouse has been ever since then was donated by the founder of Stockton, Captain Charles E. Weber.
The next courthouse was completed by 1854, a simple rectangular building with a gable roof. An octagonal bell tower was added in 1861 and a clock was added to that tower in 1868. The bell and clock from the tower on the second courthouse are now located at the Haggin Museum in Stockton.
The third courthouse, a beautiful building, was completed in 1890, designed by Elijah E. Myers, and was razed in 1961. A gilded statue of Justice that had been atop this courthouse now stands on a pedestal at the entrance of the present courthouse.
The present courthouse opened in 1964.
To see photographs of the courthouses, click here.
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Copyright 2005.
This page was last revised on July 12, 2005.
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