San Jose was chosen as the initial site for the state's capitol in 1849, which it held until 1851, when legislators voted to move to
Vallejo. After Santa Clara County was formed on April 25, 1851, a contest was held to select a design for a new building worthy of being a state capitol in 1860. The winning entry, designed by
Levi Goodrich, was constructed from 1866 to 1868 at a cost of . The courthouse was destroyed by fire in May 1931. Reconstruction work began in December 1931 and completed in August 1932; a dedication ceremony for the reconstructed courthouse was held on September 17. As originally completed in 1868, the courthouse was topped by a copper-covered dome; the copper sheathing melted in the intense heat from the 1931 fire and the dome was removed during reconstruction. After the disastrous 1931 fire and rebuilding, it survives today as the Old Courthouse, which was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places as part of the
St. James Square National Historic District in 1979. A modern courthouse was completed in 1964, replacing an older Hall of Records which had been built adjacent to the county courthouse. The Hall of Justice, located a few blocks to the north, was completed in 1991. The Family Justice Center was completed in 2016, consolidating court operations from six different facilities in a single building. The doctrine of
corporate personhood in US law is commonly traced to the 1886 decision of the
United States Supreme Court in
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, which started in this court. ==Courthouses==