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Historic photograph (Detroit Publishing Company Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.)
The courthouse is composed of two distinct buildings, each one reflecting the period in which it was built. Orlopp chose Romanesque Revival for his building, and Mann chose a Beaux-Arts classical design for the much larger annex facing Markham Street. The Orlopp building, which faces 2nd Street, is a compact building of light-colored rusticated stone contrasting with red brick and terra-cotta details. The building is made more picturesque by its roofline, a medley of gables and turrets with conical roofs, and a dome and cupola crowning a square corner tower. Mann’s building is three stories in height, with round arches on the ground story, and the second and third stories are united by a row of double-height Ionic columns between the windows. Original interior detailing remains, including a large stained glass skylit dome in the center of the annex. A small formally landscaped park beside the two buildings substitutes for a courthouse square.