Norristown, Pennsylvania

The oldest part of the Montgomery County Court House, which faces Swede Street, is of the Greek Revival style. It was built as the result of a competition of 1849 between Thomas U. Walter (architect of Girard College and later of the U.S. Capitol dome) and Napoleon LeBrun, designer of Philadelphia’s Academy of Music and Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul. LeBrun’s successful design originally featured a steeple that was even higher than the Presbyterian church’s to the east, and it was criticized as being out of keeping with the Greek Revival style. The steeple was replaced by the dome in a substantial renovation of 1904. The interior of the Court House dates largely from 1904, when the stained glass ceilings in courtrooms A, B, and C were installed.