Mitchell H. Cohen Building & U.S. Courthouse - Camden, NJ
N 39° 56.820 W 075° 07.302
18S E 489603 N 4421881
This is a U.S. District Court for N.J. It was built recently after the existing properties were razed to make room for this gigantic structure. This is one of the few buildings that does'nt contribute to the Cooper Street Historic District (NRHP).
Waymark Code: WM7V7C
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 12/05/2009
Views: 4
About the Courthouse
Camden has been undergoing a rebirth of sorts. More specifically, Cooper Street has been cleaned up, renovated and preserved. At the beginning of the 20th century, Camden saw huge expansion and growth, especially along Cooper Street, the heart of the business district.
In 1922 Charles H. Ellis, who had served as the Mayor of Camden since 1905, was named postmaster. During his tenure a new Post Office and Federal Court House was built at the corner of North 4th and Market Streets, on the site where Ed Gondolff's Temple Bar and Hotel and the adjacent Temple Theater Building had stood. This building was expanded in the 1990s and renamed the Mitchell H. Cohen US Courthouse in honor of Camden-born lawyer and judge Mitchell H. Cohen. This is the waymark we see today.
The District of New Jersey is divided into three vicinages: Newark, Trenton and Camden. In Newark, the Court operates from two courthouses: The "old" courthouse is the United States Post Office and Court House at One Federal Square. Across Walnut Street is the "new" courthouse -- Martin Luther King, Jr. U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building (50 Walnut Street). The Newark vicinage's clerk's office is located in the Martin Luther King building. In Trenton, the Court operates from the Clarkson S. Fisher Building and U.S. Courthouse (402 East State Street). In Camden, the Court is located at the Mitchell H. Cohen Building and U.S. Courthouse (4th and Cooper Streets).
SOURCE
About the Man
Mitchell H. Cohen, a senior Federal District Judge and a former prosecutor in Camden County, N.J., He died on Monday, January 7, 1991 at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. He was 86 years old and lived in Philadelphia.
Judge Cohen, a Republican, was appointed to the Federal bench in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy and in 1973 was named Chief Judge of the United States District Court for New Jersey. He had served as a judge on the Camden County Court and the New Jersey Superior Court.
As Camden County Prosecutor, a part-time post he held from 1948 to 1958, he gained wide attention when he handled the case of Howard Unruh, who shot 13 people to death in East Camden in 1949 and who was judged insane and committed to a mental institution.
Judge Cohen was born in Philadelpha, the son of a harness maker. He received his law degree from Dickinson Law School in Carlisle, Pa., and entered private practice. Active in Republican politics, he held a series of lower-court posts in Camden before becoming county prosecutor.