Supreme Court of Ohio

    During a number of our previous visits to Columbus, Ohio, our son, Carl, had recommended that we see the Supreme Court Building of Ohio. His glowing reports of the beauty of this structure piqued our interests, so we made plans to explore this attraction during our current visit. Located on Front Street (just off of East Broad), along the Scioto River, this is officially known as the "Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center." Originally constructed in 1933, the building, at that time, was known as the Ohio Departments Building, housing the Industrial Commission, the State Library, and several other state administrative departments. For a time during the early 1990's, the building was also home to the Ohio House of Representatives while the Statehouse was undergoing renovations. Finally, in 1998, the General Assembly agreed to renovate the building into the Ohio Judicial Center, with the main occupant being the Supreme Court of Ohio. This court consists of seven members (a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices) elected by the general public for six year terms (with one third of the court being up for re-election each two year cycle). Besides being home to the highest court in the state, this building is one of the most beautiful municipal structures we've seen, decorated in the American Realism style. Forty-five minute tours of part of the building are available, or you can just explore it on your own (not every part is open to the public however). This is such a fun place to visit.

Facing the Scioto River, this is home to the highest court in Ohio

This thirty foot long steel structure, created by Andrew Scott, is considered to be the world's largest gavel.

Even these ornate glass entrance doors impress visitors to the beauty to be found inside.

The Native American room on the ground floor is dedicated to the history of Ohio's America Indians.

Close up of the ceiling art work.

Here, you can see several carvings of legendary native Americans, such as Little Turtle, Chief Military leader of the Miami Native American tribe.

In the rotunda , this dome ceiling really catches your eye.

Like reception rooms in palaces we've visited throughout Europe, this main court room is exquisitely decorated.

We loved the carved-wood bench for the Justices of the Supreme Court.

Even the ceiling paintings are unbelievable!

...and the seating gallery gives the impression of being in the presence of royalty.

In addition to being one of the largest Supreme Court law libraries in the United States, these murals also make it one of the most beautiful .

We think that folks trying to research law decisions would become distracted by the decorations surrounding them.

But if you are a dedicated researcher, there is plenty of reference material at hand.