James Riely Gordon was born in Winchester, Virginia on August 2, 1863. His father had been a civil engineer with the United States Army prior to serving as a major in the Confederate Anny during the American Civil War. Gordon’s father worked throughout the Washington DC area after the war, but later moved the family to San Antonio, Texas during the 1870s. Gordon would complete his formal education at age 14 and began work with the civil engineer corps of the International-Great Northern Railroad, a railroad juggernaut once under the control of American financier, Jay Gould.

Gordon soon became affiliated with the building boom of the San Antonio area during the 1880s, which included the construction of prominent goverment buildings. Around this time, Gordon became affiliated with architect William K. Dobson and worked on several projects including the Central High School of San Antonio. After as stint as a draftsman for J.N. Preston & Son, Gordon opened his own architectural firm during 1884 and soon oversaw the construction of the Val Verde County Jail during 1886. Still in his early to mid 20s, Gordon became the superintendent of construction of the new federal courthouse and post office in San Antonio during the mid to late 1880s. It was during this time that Gordon’s experience and education in the field of architecture blossomed. During the late l 880s, Gordon designed his first courthouse and jail in Aransas County, Texas.

Gordon would spend the last decade of the 1800s taking on several public projects and courthouse construction projects throughout Texas. Gordon became the architect for the Texas Pavilion of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The 1893 Exposition has been described as a seminal moment in American architecture and Gordon was a participant winning a medal of merit.

At the turn of the last century, Gordon created his first of many Beaux-Arts classic style courthouses and public buildings with the Harrison County Courthouse in Marshall, Texas, the Arizona Capitol, and the McLennan County Courthouse in Waco, Texas. It is in this classic style that Gordon also modeled the Bergen County Courthouse. Around this time period, Gordon and his fum also submitted designs for several design projects in New Jersey, including Muhlenberg Hospital and Plainfield High School in Plainfield, Calvary West Presbyterian Church in Irvington, Hudson County Courthouse, the Elks Lodge, of Hackensack. Many of these designs would never see construction wider Gordon’s proposals. However, on February 14, 1905, the Somerset County, New Jersey Freeholder commission selected Gordon and his firm to design a new courthouse. Plans were approved during the fall of 1905 and the building was completed and opened during March 1909.

The design and style of the Somerset County Courthouse is striking similar to the Bergen County Courthouse. During the first decade of the 1900s, Gordon also designed two other courthouses in the Beaux-Arts classic style, Garrett County Courthouse in Oakland, Maryland and the Madison County Courthouse in Wampsville, New York. These buildings also bear a clear resemblance to the design incorporated into the Bergen County Courthouse construction.

The initial site proposed for the new Bergen County Courthouse selected during 1906 was the comer of Main Street and Camden Street due to the location’s size, railway access and lower water table. During 1907, Gordon’s firm entered its design for the new Bergen County Courthouse. The design was selected with four other entries which were submitted to the New Jersey state architect who, while allegedly favoring another entry, selected Gordon’s firm as the winning design. Gordon’s firm, along with the four other firms, were paid $600 for their entry. During this time period, the Bergen County Freeholders were squabbling with the Bergen County Public Building Commission over control of the project, and construction was delayed. After much debate, the proposed site at Main Street and Camden Street was abandoned allegedly due to acquisition costs and it was agreed that the current location along Main Street and what is now Hudson Street was to be the site of the new courthouse.

Based upon the finalized site selection, Gordon adjusted his winning design entry to relocate the proposed jail and reduced the depth of the proposed courthouse’s side wings while increasing the rear wing so to .conform to the size restrictions of the property. The revised design included a northerly faced entry, wings to the east, west and south, each of which are seven bays in length. The Bergen County Public Building Commission approved a granite foundation with marble facade. During its initial construction phase, Gordon revised the courthouse’s foundation plans to include concrete pedestal piles and marble sculptures instead of the original zinc design.

The design of the exterior of the building is wonderfully detailed in 1he recent book, James Riely Gordon, His Courthouses and Other Public Architecture, by Chris Meister, Texas Tech University 2011 which states

[t]he structure sits on a high basement required by a high water table. Both the basement and first floor are treated with stonework rusticated in horizontal bands. The second and third floors are marked with windowed bays framed by engage Ionic columns. An entablature topped by a balustrade encircles the building. . . . A copper dome sits atop a peristyle drum at the crossing …. the porch is recessed behind paired Ionic columns and above a trio of arched entrance portals. An expansive series of steps and landings leads from the street level up the terraced lot, to the main entrance …. An exemplary sculpture program enhances this outstanding design. Most of this work is by Johannes Sophus Gelert, an eminent, German-born, Danish educated sculptor whose work also graces Cass Gilbert’s 1907 United States Custom House, New York. Gelert’s [design includes] allegorical groupings of Truth, Attended by Justice and Integrity and Honor, with Law and Order, [which] bracket the top comers of the pavilion. These are all freestanding compositions carved from Italian Carrara marble. [Gilbe1t] also designed the figure Enlightenment Giving Power that tops the dome. Metallic eagles mark the other comers of the structure. Beneath the dome, a bas-relief frieze encircles the drum with forty panels evoking, in Gordon’s words, “the march of progress that has been so wonderful in Bergen County.” There are other details, including lion head keystones for the main entrance arcade.

Improving upon the Somerset County Courthouse design, Gordon expanded the scale interior rotunda area. A small opening between the basement and first floor level encircled with an iron balustrade is expanded as you progress to the second floor marble balustrade and further expanded to the third floor iron railing. The interior of the dome is coffered and topped off with colored glass. As with his other courthouse designs of the time, Gordon specifically arranged the courtroom seating so to avoid window glare and distraction. Gordon also attempted to limit or eliminate square comers in his courtroom designs to aid acoustics.

Gordon was embroiled in a political battle over the final construction costs associated with the Bergen County Courthouse which ultimately lead to a grand jury inquiry. No formal charges were ever brought against Gordon or his firm for any wrongdoing and Gordon continued to design public buildings during the next decade.

The final courthouse designed by Gordon was the county courthouse in Cortland, New York, a building again similar in design and style to the Bergen County Courthouse. In 1936, Gordon was commissioned to design a building for the New York World’s Fair’s “World of Tomorrow.” Unfortunately, he was never able to complete his design. Gordon passed away at his home on March 16, 1937. He has been attributed with designing over 50 courthouses during  his career. He is credited with stating that “A courthouse, more than any other structure, is expected to elevate and educate public judgment to discriminate and appreciate an architectural masterpiece.¹” He once opined that courthouses should be built to serve for 100 years. A serendipitous statement indeed.