The state supreme court used to hold session in various locations in downtown Salem.

[3] Then in 1876 the state finished construction on a second capitol building where the court was located on the third floor.

[9] This was due to all the water that was used to fight the fire drained into the basement and destroyed many books in the library.

[10] The original stained-glass piece was created by Povey Brothers Art Glass Works, who were the premier artisans of that trade in the Northwest from 1888 to 1929.

[11] Beginning in 1981 the building was renovated with much of the courtroom refurbished with Italian silk paneling, hand-painted carpet, and new furniture built by inmates.

[5] The exterior was designed to resemble the previous Oregon Capitol building (which burned in 1935).

On the interior, the building contains a marble finish, ornate spiral staircase, the stained-glass skylight, a library with columns throughout, and tile flooring.

[17] In October 2019 the Court moved to temporary quarters elsewhere in the city when the building began two years of upgrades to include strengthening the structure against earthquake.

[19] In 1851 the legislature passed an act to provide a librarian for this library that mainly served Oregon government officials.

[20] Additional items of historic note are a large, ornate safe that traveled around Cape Horn and an oak chest built for justice Lord by a prisoner that was allowed to stay in prison after his sentence had ended at his own request.

[23] The library is staffed by librarians and contains copy machines and computers for legal research.