LI Courthouse, Backdrop Of Sensational Trials, Deemed Historic

MINEOLA, NY — The Long Island courthouse that served as the backdrop for many a sensational trial, including that of Long Island Lolita Amy Fisher, serial killer Joel Rifkin, and Long Island Rail Road gunman Colin Ferguson, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, Nassau County officials said Thursday.

The Nassau County Courthouse Complex, which consists of three buildings located at 262 Old Country Rd. in Mineola, is also where actor Henry Fonda and singer Bob Dylan were married to their respective spouses, CBS reported.

Its design is based on that of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, and features vaulted ceilings, Roman style columns, and a large rotunda with tinted glass overhead.

At a news conference on the courthouse steps, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said: “When people walk in, they should be filled with the awe and majesty and grandeur of a courthouse and what it represents to our history,” Newsday reported.

County Executive Laura Curran said the historic designation will be very helpful in opening up grant money that the county will be able to use for repairs to the main building’s facade, CBS reported.

The courthouse, which was finished in 1940 at a cost of $2.6 million, also has 200 million year old fossils buried in its limestone walls, according to Newsday.