Spring Street Courthouse

Spring Street Courthouse
U.S. Court House shown with Los Angeles City Hall tower in background, 2008
Location312 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, California
Coordinates34°03′18″N 118°14′29″W / 34.0550°N 118.2414°W / 34.0550; -118.2414
ArchitectGilbert Stanley Underwood
Louis A. Simon
Architectural styleModerne
NRHP reference No.06000001
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 9, 2006
Designated NHLOctober 16, 2012

The Spring Street Courthouse, formerly the United States Court House in Downtown Los Angeles, is a Moderne style building that originally served as both a post office and a courthouse. The building was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood and Louis A. Simon, and construction was completed in 1940. It formerly housed federal courts but is now used by Los Angeles Superior Court.

The United States Court House initially housed court facilities for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, until the District was redrawn in 1966. It thereafter functioned as a court house with judges from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. In 2016 the federal courts moved to the new First Street Courthouse. There is another federal court house in the Roybal Building in Downtown Los Angeles. In February 2006, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as U.S. Court House and Post Office. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012, as the site of Gonzalo Mendez et al v. Westminster School District of Orange County, et al, a major legal case in advancing the civil rights of Mexican-Americans, and a precursor to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case.