# Court House Columns **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 24, 2001, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-house-columns/83580 "2001-09-24T23:16:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Palaas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e480ec/32.png) [@Palaas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palaas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-house-columns/83580/1 "2001-09-24T23:16:23Z")
This is a question my father asked me, so I cannot guarantee what he said is correct. He said that federal courthouses have eight columns out front and state / local courthouses have only six. What is the significance of this? ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-house-columns/83580/2 "2001-09-24T23:17:30Z")
Your father is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Palaas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e480ec/32.png) [@Palaas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palaas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-house-columns/83580/3 "2001-09-24T23:23:44Z")
Okay… as I said, I didn’t know if what he said was true. But, since the subject was brought up, are there the same number of columns on all courthouses… is there anything up with this? More info please. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-house-columns/83580/4 "2001-09-24T23:36:23Z")
Some have many columns, others have none at all. Nothing to it except the whims of the architect and the people commissioning the courthouse. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-house-columns/83580/5 "2001-09-25T00:18:13Z")
Here in Boston, the [new federal courthouse](http://www.bacweb.org/craftawards/2000/brick1.htm) does not have any columns out front. The [one it replaced](http://www.state.ma.us/courts/jury/newpage41.htm) is now used as a temporary home for some of the Suffolk County courts. It seems to have 4 pseudo-columns out front, and no real ones. I also don’t think the new Suffolk County courthouse (not the really new one, the high rise one) has any columns either. And the [old Suffolk County courthouse](http://www.cbtarchitects.com/html/projects/civic/proj_civic_court_2.html) (currently being renovated) looks as if it only has two. [The Edward W. Brooke Courthouse](http://www.state.ma.us/courts/courtsandjudges/courts/bostonhousing2.html), which is the really new one, does indeed have a row of six columns up top, but there are also two down below. Doesn’t seem to be any specific pattern. ---
**Author:** ![RavingMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/edb3f5/32.png) [@RavingMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RavingMad)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-house-columns/83580/6 "2001-09-25T00:59:44Z")
Consider, too, the Supreme Court – the daddy of all federal courts: It has 16 columns out front. You can see a picture [here](http://www.GreatBuildings.com/cgi-bin/gbi.cgi/U.S._Supreme_Court.html/cid_2887618.gbi) ---
**Author:** ![epeepunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f19dbf/32.png) [@epeepunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epeepunk)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-house-columns/83580/7 "2001-09-25T15:56:34Z")
Without getting too technical, the number of columns depends on the classical style that the architect decided to use. Not column style, but building style, which proscribes the number of columns and their spacing and location.