Hudson County, New Jersey knew that they had a national treasure in their Francis Davis Millet decorated Courthouse, and that they needed to preserve the work. Consequently, the county contracted over several years to preserve as much of the Millet mural and other decoration as possible. The following reports document that major multi-year effort:

   For interior images and other information about the building please see the Gallery Tab: 1906 Hudson County Courthouse

Hudson County Courthouse is one of America’s great early twentieth century courthouses. Its grand Beaux Arts exterior hints at the highly ornate decoration that lies within. The murals and decorative painting were designed and executed by the leading muralists of the day, assembled together by Francis D. Millet, the director of decoration at the Columbian Exposition at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. They included Kenyon Cox, Edwin Blashfield, Charles Yardley Turner, Howard Pyle, and of course, Millet himself.

The courthouse served as the seat of Hudson County’s justice system for 56 years before it was abandoned in 1966. Archival research and microscopic analysis indicate that the courthouse has undergone multiple restoration campaigns over the course of the last 40 years, often launched in response to severe weathering and deterioration that have distorted the intended appearance and unity of the interior elements. Fortunately, a tremendous amount of physical and archival evidence of the courthouse’s original appearance survives; its interior can be easily revived.
Evergreene Architectural Arts

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The Evergreen Mural Investigation Report dated May 25, 2012. Millet executed 12 small panels, on the second floor, creating a frieze depicting local scenes and the development of transportation which are discussed on pages 8-25. Unfortunately of the 12 panels only 8 survive to date and were restored.

The conservation of the murals commenced in June of 2016 with Evergreene conserving all accessible murals on the second, third and fourth floors, including the Millet panels. This phase was completed by September 22, 2016. Due to coordination within an active courthouse and the need to obtain pre-qualifications for a contractor to install scaffolding and clean and restore all marble and painted finishes within the Rotunda and dome, Phase II did not commence until June of 2020. Within this phase, Evergreen conserved the dome and dome pendentive murals, which were completed by October of 2020. The Contractor restored the dome skylight and the project grant, from the New Jersey Trust, was officially closed out by March of 2022.
Robert A Yannazzo, AIA
Hudson County Chief Architect
Office of The County Engineer

Links to the two Evergeene restoration reports, outlining work done to conserve the courthouse and murals:

Hudson Courthouse, Evergreene Mural Investigation (1)                                                                                                                                                         Hudson Courthouse Evergreene Report-Phase II (1)

Francis Davis Millet