Mono County

This month’s Mono California County, California courthouse in Bridgeport features beautiful Italianate architecture. The town of 553 along the Eastern Sierras lights the 1888 courthouse on Main Street at night. The principal Mono County courthouse is in Mammoth, an hour away. The 2 ½ story courthouse in Bridgeport is open only on Tuesdays. The original second-floor courtroom has 20 foot high ceilings. Notice how the “open” witness chair is within two feet of both the judge’s bench and a corner of the jury box. Inmates, who are housed in a relatively modern jail behind the courthouse, walk cross Bryant Street handcuffed in the custody of sheriffs before their court call.

One of the oldest continuously operating courthouses in California. Built for a total cost of $31,000!

An annex furnishing an elevator as well as a ramp outside on the rear of the 1880 building was built to make the courthouse compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.