Central Avenue & Forsyth Boulevard

The old St. Louis County Courthouse, built in 1878, was connected to the adjoining jail by a second-floor corridor known as "the Bridge of Sighs," where condemned men were hanged. In July 1894, Harrison Duncan, an African American, was hanged from this bridge for killing James Brady, a police officer. While in jail, Duncan would often sing from his cell to crowds that gathered outside. On the afternoon before his death, he invited newspaper reporters into his cell, where he maintained his innocence. All he could hope for now, he said, was to meet death like a "true man." Before the reporters left, Duncan sang a final concert for them, including the songs 'My Mother's Picture' and 'Night to the Grave.' A reporter later recalled that Duncan's voice sounded firm and could be heard beyond the courthouse itself. At daybreak next morning, four hundred spectators gathered in the square outside to watch the hanging of R. Lee Mudd, the county's prosecuting attorney, was outspoken following Duncan's execution. 'I say Duncan should never have been convicted of murder in the first degree. I say Duncan should never have been hanged." Duncan's hanging was memorialized in the folk song Ballad of Brady and Duncan. (see: Ballad of "Brady and Duncan")

On Jan. 20, 1933, James W. Kellar was put to death in the last hanging execution to take place at the St. Louis County Courthouse. The gallows was in a 10 by 6 foot room on what was known as "The Bridge of Sighs," a brick corridor connecting the second floor of the jail with the second floor of the courthouse.

The new County Courthouse was completed in 1950 and incorporated parts of the old 1878 Courthouse. The old western annex/jail was razed in 1955, with what remained of the 1878 Courthouse taken down by 1971. The first part of the new County Courts/Administration Complex was completed in 1971. Today, the 1950s Courthouse building serves as the St. Louis County Police Headquarters.