George finds a home in the Washington County Courthouse
Portrait of nation’s first president takes center stage in president judge’s courtroom
A portrait of the nation’s first president is now hanging in the president judge’s courtroom inside the Washington County Courthouse.
The print of George Washington – mounted atop a horse with a sword extended from his right hand during the Revolutionary War battle in Trenton, N.J. – once was prominently displayed at the hotel that bears his name across South Main Street from the courthouse, but now it has found a new home thanks to a local attorney.
Sandy Phillips recently donated the print that her late husband, Denny, hung for decades in his law office in Washington. Before the longtime attorney died at age 86 on Aug. 19, 2024, his wish was for the portrait to be donated to Washington County with the hope it would be prominently displayed in the president judge’s courtroom.
That wish came true this past week when Washington County workers hung the portrait above the jury box in President Judge Valarie Costanzo’s courtroom, with a ceremonial unveiling Saturday night during a charity gala celebrating the 125th anniversary of the courthouse.
“He wanted to see that the portrait was appreciated long after he was gone,” Sandy Phillips said. “I’m grateful the county would do this for him, because he was a memorable person. I just wanted to see it preserved and see his legacy preserved.”
The portrait is believed to be more than 100 years old and is an engraved print of Scottish artist John Faed’s 1865 painting “Washington Receiving a Salute on the Field of Trenton.” The county is in the process of getting the portrait appraised for insurance purposes, although the estimate has not yet been returned.
Denny Phillips took possession of the portrait after his uncle, Regis McCartan, sold the George Washington Hotel in the city. The portrait was featured prominently in the lobby and McCartan wanted the artwork to find a good home, Sandy Phillips said. Denny Phillips, who specialized in medical malpractice cases and also served one time as an assistant prosecutor in Washington County, found a space for it over his fireplace at his law office on East Beau Street and kept it there for more than 30 years.
“For Denny, he was a history buff. He had a library – and I do mean library – with so much history,” Phillips said of her husband’s enormous book collection, especially ones about Washington and Winston Churchill.
The courthouse is also a special place for Denny and Sandy Phillips since it’s where they met. While he practiced law, she was a court reporter for about a dozen years and then continued in a part-time role after having children. They were married for nearly 58 years.
“I worked until I started having babies,” she said. “I worked there a long time.”
Several portraits of the county’s namesake already hang around the Washington County Courthouse, including a painting by local artist Ray Forquer depicting British Gen. Edward Braddock’s defeat near present-day Pittsburgh in 1755 during the French and Indian War. The painting hangs over the jury box in Judge Traci McDonald’s courtroom showing the mortally wounded Braddock still mounted atop his horse with Washington standing next to him after his own equestrian was shot out from under him moments earlier. A plaque displayed on the frame reveals it was donated in 1976 by the Washington County Association of Lawyers’ Wives.
Kathy Sabol, executive director of the Washington County Bar Association, said Phillips was a longtime bar member and practicing attorney in the county, so hanging the portrait in the courtroom is a nice way to remember him. Saturday night’s gala does not have a set schedule except for the official unveiling of the portrait at 7 p.m., which will also be a chance to showcase the brand new Courtroom No. 7 that opened for legal proceedings in 2023.
“Donating that piece of artwork to the courthouse to be displayed publicly, I’m sure that was very near and dear to his heart,” Sabol said. “He was a huge historian.”
That was especially meaningful to Sandy Phillips, who plans to be in attendance for the gala with one of the couple’s children, Laura Phillips, who is also a practicing attorney in Pittsburgh.
“I had hoped they would,” Phillips said about the special unveiling. “It’s a monumental thing.”