Federal Building-U.S. Courthouse

About this property

The Old Federal Building in Anchorage, Alaska is a structure serving primarily as a courthouse of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska. Completed in stages from 1939 to 1941, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Constructed almost twenty years before Alaska became the forty-ninth state, the Federal Building in Anchorage symbolized the U.S. government's commitment to the economic growth and development of the territory. Providing residents with a post office, courthouse, and other federal services, it was the first large federal building constructed in Anchorage. This block of Anchorage was designated on the original 1915 plat for the Federal Reserve Bank. The first building erected on the site was a post office, followed by a U.S. Marshals office and territorial jail, which were demolished to make way for the Federal Building. Gilbert Stanley Underwood (1890–1961) designed the original 1939–1940 building and the 1940–1941 west wing addition under the guidance of the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury. Underwood was a Los Angeles-based architect best known for designing National Park lodges. He also designed train stations for the Union Pacific Railroad before he began work for the federal government in 1932. While employed by the supervising architect's office, he designed several federal buildings, including the original portion of the Harry S Truman Building in Washington, D.C. He served as supervising architect from 1943–1949. The building housed every federal agency with an office in Anchorage, and tenants included the Civilian Conservation Corps, the United States Department of the Interior, the Signal Corps, and the Alaska Railroad. In order to accommodate all of them, the building expanded several times. The first wing extension, completed in 1940–1941, closely followed the original construction and housed the post office. The 1958 courtyard in-fill, a contemporary metal-clad design by Edwin Butler Crittenden, housed the Third District Court. The 1991 addition is home to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The building served as an early symbol of the federal government to Alaskans, giving them confidence in their acceptance as part of the United States. During celebrations of statehood in 1958, a huge American flag with forty-nine stars literally covered the facade of the building. One star was covered with a larger star to highlight Alaska becoming a state. The building is a 1930s Modern, cast-in-place reinforced concrete building with a flat roof and parapet. The original plans called for the eventual construction of a square building with a large internal courtyard, beginning with the original portion that formed the south side or base of the square. Before completion of the building in 1940, it became clear that it would not be large enough to accommodate all of the federal agencies in Anchorage, so construction began immediately on the first addition. Thus by 1941, both the base and the original portion of the western wing were complete. The western wing was enlarged and the shorter eastern wing was built later. Subsequent additions filled in portions of the courtyard rather than completing the square. Although they have undergone several alterations, the original facade and both wings of the building retain a significant degree of architectural integrity.

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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