Wayne County Courthouse, photo by St. Laurent Photography

This photo is from Alanna’s Detroit 03.14.08 set that she took while on an Exposure.Detroit outing downtown last Friday evening (slideshow).

Wikipedia’s Wayne County Courthouse entry says that Detroit architect John Scott designed the five story, copper, granite, and stone building which was completed in 1902. The entry adds that it may be the nation’s finest surviving example of Roman Baroque architecture (and has a gallery of photos illustrating that claim). Along with a photo from the Library of Congress of the courthouse taken around 1905, the Wayne County Courthouse page in the National Park Service’s Detroit Historical Register Tour relates that:

The Courthouse served as the center of Wayne County government for the first half of 20th century, holding most of its offices, court sessions, and public hearings. It was here that in 1906 roads commissioner Henry Ford reported to work; twenty years later, Clarence Darrow used one of its courtrooms to defend a play charged with obscenity. After the 1950s, however, most government functions moved to a new building several blocks away.

Here’s a close-up satellite view of the Wayne County Courthouse location on the Absolute Michigan Map of Michigan.