The Courthouse withstood the 1933 Long Beach earthquake well, although its weakened cupola was removed as a precaution. In the 1980s the Courthouse narrowly escaped being torn down. It had become inadequate for its purpose. The Hall of Records building behind it could not alleviate the situation. After the failure of St. Anne's Inn just across Broadway during the Great Depression years, that building had become a courthouse annex. (The Inn had been a resort of glamorous Hollywood stars some of whom were married at the Courthouse to avoid publicity.) In 1968 a new courthouse eleven stories high opened on Civic Center Drive (the former Eighth St.). Through the valiant efforts of many, especially Adeline Cochems Walker and the Orange County Historical Commission, the old Courthouse was spared. Totally reinforced and renovated, it now stands as California Registered Landmark No. 837 and appears on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1949 the city council passed a resolution that defined the official Civic Center as the area between Sycamore and Ross streets and from Sixth to Church St. (later to be renamed Eighth St. and finally Civic Center Drive). Eventually it was extended beyond Flower St., where a large jail replaces the one formerly on Sycamore St. opposite the old Courthouse, to Sheldon St. where the Coroners's Office is located. The Civic Center Plaza now has many government agencies.

The new City Hall is also in Civic Center plaza. In 1886, its facilities were in a rented room of the Spurgeon Block. In 1904 it had its own building at Main and Third streets. After the 1933 earthquake, a replacement building on the same spot also included the police department.