Constructed between 1914-1917 the City-County Building, seat of government for the City of Pittsburgh, was designed by prominent architect Henry Hornbostel and noted engineer Edward Lee. The City-County Building’s distinct physical appearance creates one of the most recognizable visual features within the City of Pittsburgh and its unofficial downtown historic civic district (roughly bounded by Fifth Ave., the Crosstown Blvd., Boulevard of the Allies, and Cherry Way).
Hornbostel, in designing the City-County Building, specifically tailored the registers of the façade to reflect those in the Allegheny Courthouse. Yet the smooth, grey granite of the façade stands in stark contrast to the vary array of materials, textures, and hues that define the courthouse.
The building is significant for, among other things, its association with Henry Hornbostel and Edward Lee, its unique Beaux Arts design, its affiliation with important social and cultural aspects of Pittsburgh’s history, and that it is a prominent landmark in the city.