Federal Facilities Sites

The U.S. Court and Custom House in St. Louis was constructed using U.S. Treasury Department funds between 1933 and 1935. "The U.S. Court/Custom House is located at Tucker and Market Streets. The building has 1/2 Egyptian Style columns in a giant order covering five floors. Eagles in an ancient Assyrian manner are on the corners. Stylized eagles are also located on the other side of the 12th and 11th Street entrances. The corners of the building are rounded, carved stone figures representing justice frame, the main entrance on Market Street." (https://stlcin.missouri.org) The statues outside the main entrance were created by Benjamin Hawkins...

Built between 1937 and 1940, the U.S. Courthouse was the third federal building constructed in Los Angeles, CA. At the time of its completion, it was the largest federal building in the western United States. According to the U.S. General Services Administration's registry of historic buildings, "Gilbert Stanley Underwood was selected to design the building as consulting architect to the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department. The actual plans were prepared by the Supervising Architect's Office. Underwood was acclaimed for his public architecture. His work includes lodges in National Parks, over two dozen post offices, a number of...

The historic federal building in Waco, Texas was constructed during the Great Depression with Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses New Deal artwork, was constructed as the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse; the facility no longer houses any postal operations.

Like other public buildings from the 1930s, the design and construction of the Austin U.S. Courthouse were part of the federal construction programs enacted to reduce unemployment during the Great Depression. Most notable among the programs was the Public Works Administration that provided thousands of jobs and funding for public service projects; one of the recipients was the Austin U.S. Courthouse. In June 1934, U.S. Congressman J. P. Buchanan requested an appropriation of $415,000 for the construction of a U.S. courthouse in Austin. Groundbreaking took place on September 16, 1935. The building was formally dedicated and opened to the public on...

Now known as the Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse and Custom House, the historic United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House in Louisville, Kentucky was constructed in 1931-2, before the advent of the New Deal. However, in "1936, with a growing need for more offices and courtrooms, the PWA also funded the addition of the sixth floor."

"Built in 1938 of limestone and granite, the three-story, 118,000-square-foot Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Peoria, Ill., was designed in the Art Moderne style, a streamlined look popular from the late 1920s through the mid 1940s. Public areas feature terrazzo floors, marble clad walls, and decoratively painted ceilings. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois is the major tenant. In 2012, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places." (GSA)

This New Deal Post Office in Beckley was built with Treasury Department funds in 1933.

Now an apartment building, the old Art Modern United States Courthouse and Post Office in Kansas City housed the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri until 1998. The GSA lists significant events in the building's development: 1935: Congress appropriates $3,300,000 for the construction of the new U.S. Post Office and Courthouse building. 1938: The ceremonial cornerstone is laid and construction begins under the supervision of local architects Wight & Wight. 1939: The building opens for business.

"The Custom House at Naco was constructed in 1936 with funds from the Public Works Administration. Louis Simon, architect for the Public Buildings Branch of the Treasury Department, designed the Custom House in the Pueblo Revival style. The two-story building is an outstanding example of this style and includes southwestern features of battered (sloped) and rounded walls, parapets, rough-hewn rafters and vigas, waterspouts, window lintels, and a decorative ladder. In addition to its fine artistry and historic integrity, the building is the only Custom House on the Arizona border designed in the Pueblo Revival style."

"Funded by the Public Works Administration in 1934 and constructed in 1935 in the Spanish Eclectic style, the imposing U.S. Custom House is a reminder of the importance of Nogales as a primary port of entry from Mexico along the Arizona border. Louis A. Simon, a prominent federal architect, was its designer." P.W.A. Federal Project No. 46

The historic U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in Ada, Oklahoma was constructed between 1933 and 1934 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building is still in use today.

The historic U.S. Post Office & Courthouse in Enid, Oklahoma was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building was completed in 1941 and is still in use today.

This three-story example of Classical Revival architecture was designed by Edgar Love; Miller, Martin & Lewis. The building, which was constructed and completed in 1936 and which no longer houses a post office, became listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. It is still in use by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

The historic former post office and federal courthouse building in Florence, South Carolina was constructed during the early 20th century and received a large addition constructed during the 1930s with federal Treasury Department funds. The extension and remodeling work was completed in 1938. The building is now privately owned.

New Deal funds enabled an addition to the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in Muskogee. "The U.S. Post Office and Courthouse is an excellent example of the Classical Revival style. Containing five floors plus a basement, the building gives the appearance of only four stories. In 1937-1938, an addition was constructed on the back of the building, and the former storage space on the fifth floor was converted to office space. The upper four floors are organized around a lightwell with corridors ringing the lightwell on the north, east, and south sides. Office space is off the corridor away from the...

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in San Juan was built in 1914 with a New Deal-era addition constructed in 1938-1940. Now known as Jose V. Toledo Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, the building still houses judicial functions, though postal operations have long since moved out. "The U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in San Juan, Puerto Rico is a three-story, monumental, concrete office structure occupying an entire square block on the southern fringe of the Old San Juan Historic Zone. Built in 1914 ... the original structure was built above the foundations of...

The Great Falls Post Office and Courthouse was built in 1912. It was designed by James Knox Taylor and reflects Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals architecture and Second Renaissance Revival architecture. A New Deal extension was completed in 1938 with James Knox Taylor as the supervising architect. The building has historically served -- and still does -- as a courthouse and as a post office. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Designed by Henry O. Whitfield in 1915, the U.S. Post Office and Office Building underwent a large expansion during the New Deal. "In 1936 the Treasury Department designed two 3-story wing additions for the main (south) side of the building. These were constructed in 1937-38 forming a "U"-shaped peristyle court. These wings have three floors used for office space and contain open circulation balconies on the first and third floors. The exterior walls facing the court contain 2-story columns with doric capitals which support a lanai above. All the roofs are tiled, with ornamental downspouts used in the court. The courtyard,...

The Soldiers' Home was established in 1851, as an "asylum for old and disabled veterans." Four of the original buildings still stand and are listed as national historic landmarks.  The U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home remains a thriving community of military retirees and veterans in the heart of Washington DC. In 1934, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) reconstructed and repaired buildings and machinery at the site, did general landscaping and painting, built two storehouses, tiled the milk house and built roads, according to records at the National Archives In 1938-39, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) did extensive work at the facility. WPA records...

Two major improvements were made to the U.S. Treasury Department building in 1933-34, using funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and under the supervision of the newly created Procurement Division of the Treasury Department.  The first major improvement was the remodeling of the fourth floor, originally attic space, “into good office space, and air conditioned so as to be a liveable place to work in hot weather of the Summer” (Evening Star, 1933).  The exact cost of this project is unknown, but it was between $140,000 and $200,000 of the PWA funds. The second major improvement to the Treasury building...

The Department of the Interior was the first federal building in Washington, D.C. fully authorized, designed, and built under the Franklin Roosevelt Administration. It was the brainchild of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, probably the most powerful member of FDR's cabinet, and later renamed for former Secretary of Interior, Stewart Lee Udall, in 2010. The Department had outgrown the old Interior Building (now the General Services Administration Building) and its agencies were scattered at 15 different sites in the District of Columbia. Funds were allotted by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1934, construction began in April 1935 and was...

Underhill State Park is one of nearly two dozen state parks in Vermont that was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the Great Depression era. "Between December 1933 and August 1940, the Underhill State Park was the base of operations for Camp-S-60 of the Civilian Conservation Corps, Companies 1291 and 1135. The primary focus of Camp S-60 within the Underhill State Park was the upgrading of existing and additional construction to the Mountain Road on the west side of Mount Mansfield. Other accomplishments included the development of skiing and hiking trails and the establishment of the lower, public camping...

The historic former U.S. Border Inspection Station at since-demolished Union Bridge in Calais, Maine was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The facility, located by the river on Todd Street, was completed in January 1939. The facility, since altered, was sold in 1962. Living New Deal is unsure of the building's present status, though satellite imagery suggests that the building still stands, heavily altered.

This large office building in the Suitland Federal Center –also known as Federal Office Buildings #3 – was constructed by the Public Building Administration (a branch of the Federal Works Agency) in 1941-1942 to be the headquarters of the U.S. Census Bureau, which remained in the building until 2007. Unfortunately, due to deterioration, the building was demolished a few years after that. 

'The United States Mint at San Francisco occupies an imposing site on the summit of a rocky hill overlooking Market Street, the main thoroughfare of the city. The southern approach consists of a double flight of winding stone steps to a platform from which a single flight extends to the portal in the wall of the building. There is only one approach for vehicles. The structure is built around a central court and is four stories in height. ... The building is fireproof and is constructed of reinforced concrete with the exterior walls faced with granite. The design is simple...

United States Penitentiary Terre Haute was built between 1938 and 1940. The Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce raised $50,000 to buy the land. The Public Works Administration largely funded the $3,000,000 cost for the facility. It took 125,000 person-days to build the main complex and another 25,000 person-days for the utilities and grounds.

The United States Post Office in Sheridan, Indiana was constructed in 1939 with federal Treasury Department funds.

Anchoring downtown Zeeland, the new one-story 60 by 70 foot post office was built for $68,000. Construction was completed in just seven months, tapping into a pool of unemployed workers available during the New Deal Era. Although the population of Zeeland at that time did not justify such a large post office, Zeeland was then home to 60 hatcheries, shipping up to 13 million live chicks and turkey poults to farmers per year, by rail and through the postal service. The post office opened on December 2, 1935.

Cleveland's historic University Center Station post office was constructed with federal funds in 1935-6. Designed by R. Stanley-Brown, the building houses examples of New Deal artwork.

St. Louis's historic University Station post office was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds during the Great Depression. The building was completed in 1938 and is still in use today. A New Deal mural, "The Louisiana Purchase Exposition," hangs inside.

Seattle's historic University Station post office was constructed ca. 1937 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses New Deal murals, is still in use today.

The Union Creek Historic District on the upper Rogue River in Union Creek, Oregon, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places because it is a fine representative of a type of rustic resort popular in the early 20th century and has been little altered since the 1930s.   There are almost one hundred buildings and other facilities in the Union Creek Historic District, almost all of which conform to the Forest Service plans of the 1920s and 30s.  Roughly a third were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1942.   CCC enrollees worked during summer...

From the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs: “This 2660 acre forest offers visitors a natural diversity of flora and fauna accented with historically significant contributions of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The focal point of the forest is located at 205 Westboro Road in Upton, where visitor parking, the main trail head and park information is available. One has the opportunity to survey the grounds and exterior of a number of CCC structures located at this site."

The historic Uptown Station post office in Chicago, Illinois was constructed in 1939 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building is still in service and houses an example of New Deal artwork.

The original facilities at the VA Medical Center in White River Junction, Vermont were constructed ca. 1938 as part of the New Deal, with federal / Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "Looking back to 1938, the WRJ VAMC began its service to Veterans in a comparatively small three story T-shaped building."

Morton's historic former post office building was constructed in 1937 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which housed an example of New Deal artwork (since relocated), served as a post office until the 1970s. It now serves as the Morton Municipal Building and Village Hall.

Originally the post office, this building was constructed under Treasury Department supervision during the New Deal: "The Wappingers Falls Post Office is an architecturally and historically significant public building, deriving exceptional significance from the role that President Franklin D. Roosevelt played in its design and construction. It was among five post offices in New York State built in the regional vernacular style whose design and construction were monitored by Roosevelt. Constructed in 1939-40 in the Colonial Revival style, the post office was modeled loosely after the nearby eighteenth-century Brewer-Mesier house. Although the house was frame, Roosevelt chose fieldstone and brick as...

Red brick and beautiful stone detailing adorn this historic New Deal post office, whose construction began in 1933.

The historic Boulevard Station post office in the Bronx, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1941. The building, which contains a New Deal mural in the lobby, is still in use today.

Naperville's historic Washington Street Station post office was constructed as the city's main post office in 1939-40. The post office now occupies space in the south side of the building, believed to be a later addition; a bank occupies the primary portion of the historic post office structure.