In 1927, the decision was made to construct a conjoined building for the Phoenix City Hall and the Maricopa County Courthouse. That was the easy part. Afterwards, the city and county had a tough time agreeing on anything (imagine that!). The Mission Revival structure was finished in 1929. The terracotta panels glisten with a warm hue in the Valley of the Sun. Flanking the Old City Hall entrance are sculptures of a phoenix. This mythical bird that rises from the ashes was adopted as the official seal when Phoenix was incorporated as a city in 1881. Then it had less than 2,500 residents. Today, Phoenix is the sixth largest U. S. city with a population over 1.5 million.
