Federal Building Extension – Missoula MT

Description

The original Missoula post office was completed in 1913 and then expanded during the late 1920s to accommodate the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.  A second extension and annex was made under the New Deal, which was designed by Louis A. Simon of the U.S. Treasury Department and dedicated on October 13, 1937. By that time, the structure was known as the Federal Building.

The original building was constructed in the Beaux Arts style, popular in public buildings of the early 20th century, which appears to have been repeated in the 1920s. The 1930s addition was done in a more stripped down version of the style.

According to Wikipedia, “The 1937 annex lobby retains many original features. The floor is covered with panels of alternating light and dark marble that are arranged on a 45-degree angle with the lobby walls. The walls are covered with deep beige marble, and each contains a centrally placed arched opening. The walls are trimmed in dark gray marble at the base, while a molded wood cornice with a dentil course tops the space. The plaster ceiling features a decorative circular medallion from which a bronze pendant light descends.”

The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

The Missoula Federal Building is still in use by the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana and houses the Hellgate Station post office.