Legal History / Judicial History
Oct. 9, 2025
The Red Sandstone Courthouse: How LA's lost landmark built the city's civic legacy
Opened in 1891, Los Angeles' Red Sandstone Courthouse symbolized the city's civic pride, growth and legal development, and though it was demolished after earthquake damage in the 1930s, its legacy endures through preserved architectural elements and its influence on subsequent courthouses.
Michael L. Stern
Judge (ret.)
Harvard Law, Boalt Hall
Judge Stern worked at the CRLA Santa Maria office from 1972 to 1975. He is chair of the Los Angeles County Superior Court Historical Committee.
Courthouses are more than the sum of paneled courtrooms and
black-robed judges. They also are the embodiments of the rule of law and
symbolic of a community's sense of civic pride, development and empowerment.
No public building better reflects these factors and exemplifies the coming of age and growth of Los Angeles in the late 19th century than the Red Sandstone Courthouse. Opened in 1891, it was in full bloom until it succumbed to damaging ...
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