Photos here were taken from across Granite Street, at the southeast corner of the intersection of Granite and Montana, looking northeast. The "then" photo appears to be a colorized photo, likely taken around the time of the dedication of the building in 1912.
A design by the prestigious architectural firm of Link and Haire, the four story building was constructed as the Silver Bow County Courthouse. In 1977 the governments of the city of Butte and the county of Silver Bow consolidated to form the single entity of Butte-Silver Bow, making this now the Butte-Silver Bow Courthouse.
Faced with almost equal amounts of light beige brick and stone, this is one of the more impressive judicial buildings in the state. Not atypical of the works of Link and Haire, the courthouse is embellished with ornamentation throughout its exterior, beginning with the heavy carved stone keystones over the twin entry doors, above which are a half dozen two story fluted Doric columns. The foundation and ground floor are faced entirely with stone, with heavy stone door frames. A band of stone runs around the building between the third and fourth floors, with ornamentation dropping from it on each pilaster which defines the edge of a bay. An overhanging eave just below the cornice was given decorated modillions which appear almost as brackets. Above, the cornice and parapet are of stone, with two more small eaves protruding, between which are recessed panels in each bay, filled with seashell-like carvings of stone. In the centre of the parapet, directly over the entrances, is a statue of "Blindfolded Justice" within a round floral-styled shield, surmounted by a carved seashell.
SILVER BOW COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Prestigious architects Link and Haire designed this magnificent four-story courthouse in the Beaux Arts style. This grandiloquent form introduced at Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition was often utilized in American civic buildings. Offices within are laid out around a rotunda with an elaborate stained glass dome, and a molded stone figure of blind-folded Justice presides over the façade. Dedicated in 1912, the courthouse has served as podium for such famous statesmen as William Jennings Bryan and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1914, the courthouse became barracks for state militia when Butte was under martial law following violent labor disputes.
From the NRHP plaque at the building