Oakland County is named for the many oak trees in the area.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Genesee County and Lapeer County
E – Macomb County
S – Wayne County and Washtenaw County
Created: March 28, 1820
County Seat:
Pontiac 1822 – present
County Courthouse – Pontiac
Location: 1200 North Telegraph Road / County Center Drive East
Built: 1960– 1962
Style: Modern
Architect: O’Dell Hewlet & Lukenbach
Contractor: O W Burke Company.
Description: The building faces west and is a six story concrete and glass structure with many inter connected buildings. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds on the west side of the center of Pontiac. The building was constructed in six stages. The building has a three story central entrances. On the north side is a new tower complex which houses most of the courtrooms. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 6th Judicial District and County Probate Court. The West Wing was completed in 1963 and the Courthouse Auditorium was completed in 1964. The East Wing was completed in 1968. The five story West Wing Extension was completed in 1994.
History: The county was created in 1820 and Pontiac was selected as the county seat in 1822 when the county was organized. The first courthouse was a log structure built on the southwest corner of Saginaw Street and Huron Street in 1824. A long one story wooden administration building was built by Solomon Close in 1848, at a cost of $938. The second courthouse was a brick Italianate structure built by D J Pratt in 1857 to 1858 at a cost of $12,594. The third courthouse was three story sandstone structure designed by Joseph E Mills and built by John G Schmidt of Toledo, Ohio in 1904 to 1905 at a cost of $103,143. During construction, the court met in the basement of the Congregational Church. The courthouse was demolished in 1962. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 1960 to 1962 at a cost of $3,300,000. The West Wing was completed in 1963 at a cost of $1,600,000. The Courthouse Auditorium was built in 1964. The East Wing was built in 1968 at a cost of $3,010,000. The West wing extension was constructed at a cost of $17,000,000 and the Courthouse North Lobby was construcred ar a cost of $1,660,000.
County District Court – Pontiac
Location: 70 North Saginaw Street / East Huron Street
Built: 1975 – 1977
Style: Modern
Architect: Bruno Leon Associates Inc.
Contractor: Utley-James Inc.
Description: The building faces west and is a three story concrete and glass structure. The west front has a central recessed entrance. The second and third stories extend over the plaza area on the west and on the north and south sides. The windows are horizontal and roof line is flat. The building is named as the William J Waterman Hall of Justice.
County Administration Building – Pontiac
Location: 2100 Pontiac Lake Road / North Telegraph Road
Built: Unknown
Style: Modern
Architect: Unknown
Contractor: Unknown
Description: The building faces south and is a six story dark brown colored concrete and glass structure. The south front has a large concrete framed entrance. The sixth story is recessed. The roof line is flat. The building is named as the Executive Office Building.
See: Michigan’s County Courthouses by John Fedynsky
County Courthouse – Pontiac
Lady Justice from 105 County Courthouse
County District Court – Pontiac
County Administration Building – Pontiac
Photos taken 2008 and 2018
Images 26