Vermont marble was used for the exterior, while the four inner courtyards are of crystalline flaked, white Georgia marble.
Marble was chosen as the principal material to be used and $3 million worth was gathered from foreign and domestic quarries. At its greatest height, the building rises four stories above the terrace or ground floor. The general dimensions of the foundation are 385 feet from east to west, (front to back) and 304 feet from north to south. The building was designed on a scale in keeping with the importance and dignity of the Court and the Judiciary as a coequal, independent branch of the United States Government, and as a symbol of "the national ideal of justice in the highest sphere of activity." The classical Corinthian architectural style was selected because it best harmonized with nearby congressional buildings. The construction, begun in 1932, was completed in 1935, when the Court was finally able to occupy its own building. Construction proceeded under the direction of Chief Justice Hughes and architects Cass Gilbert, Jr., and John R. Neither Taft nor Gilbert survived to see the Supreme Court Building completed. Architect Cass Gilbert was charged by Chief Justice Taft to design "a building of dignity and importance suitable for its use as the permanent home of the Supreme Court of the United States." Following this episode, the Court returned to the Capitol and met from 1819 to 1860 in a chamber now restored as the "Old Supreme Court Chamber." Then from 1860 until 1935, the Court sat in what is now known as the "Old Senate Chamber."įinally in 1929, Chief Justice William Howard Taft, who had been President of the United States from 1909 to 1913, persuaded Congress to end this arrangement and authorize the construction of a permanent home for the Court.
Additionally, the Court convened for a short period in a private house after the British set fire to the Capitol during the War of 1812. The Court was to change its meeting place a half dozen times within the Capitol. Since no provision had been made for a Supreme Court Building, Congress lent the Court space in the new Capitol Building. When the Federal Government moved, in 1800, to the permanent Capital, Washington, the District of Columbia, the Court again moved with it. When the National Capital moved to Philadelphia in 1790, the Court moved with it, establishing Chambers first in the State House (Independence Hall) and later in the City Hall. Initially, the Court met in the Merchants Exchange Building in New York City. Yet surprisingly, despite its role as a coequal branch of government, the Supreme Court was not provided with a building of its own until 1935, the 146th year of its existence. "The Republic endures and this is the symbol of its faith." These words, spoken by Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes in laying the cornerstone for the Supreme Court Building on October 13, 1932, express the importance of the Supreme Court in the American system.
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