sketchclub.net: The El Paso Sketch Club: Santa Cruz County Courthouse, Nogales Arizona

The 1903 Santa Cruz County Courthouse was erected in Nogales, Arizona, designed by the Tucson architectural firm of Trost & Rust, with supervising architect Henry C. Trost. According to SAH (the Society of Architectural Historians) the building was designed in Beau Arts and Classical Revival styles. It took less than 12 months to build, and was occupied by early 1904, serving as the courthouse until the mid 1980s.

In 1902, the US Congress authorized the newly formed Santa Cruz County to issue $35,000 in bonds to finance a permanent courthouse. The county, although very small (800,000 acres, over half of which is a National Forest), had experienced about 20 years of sustained growth following the completion of the 1882 Southern Pacific Railroad line south from Tucson, through Nogales, and into Mexico. Nogales emerged as a critical area for international trade, in addition to a growing farming and ranching community.

Henry Trost had arrived in Tucson in 1899 and had a prolific, though short-lived career in that city, forging a partnership with Robert Rust in 1901. They designed a number of Tucson landmarks, including the second Owls Club Building, a number of residential properties, and the Santa Rita Hotel. The partnership with Rust dissolved in 1903, just after the completion of this Courthouse, and Henry Trost joined his brother Gustavus A. Trost here in El Paso to form the iconic and extremely influential firm of Trost & Trost.

Trost & Rust, looking into the bright future evident in Nogales, overbuilt an extremely distinguished Courthouse and jail for the county. On a dominating hill at the northern end of Nogales’ business district, this 2-story monument is in cruciform shape with a central dome, which supports a statue of Lady Justice. Four Doric columns embellish the entryway, which is capped with a magnificent triangular pediment containing a sculpture of Lady Justice. For a small town, this was optimistic planning.

The building served as the courthouse and jail (the jail was in the basement) until the city of Nogales opted to leave their downtown area and move offices to the north side of the city, primarily because of parking issues. They abandoned the building by the mid 1980s. The Arizona Ranger Museum occupies the structure today, along with the Santa Cruz County Cowbells Museum. The structure is in outstanding condition, thanks to numerous citizen initiated restoration programs.

The building was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.