About this property
The James A. Walsh United States Courthouse, also or formerly named U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, is a historic post office and courthouse building located at Tucson at Pima County, Arizona. It was a courthouse of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. The building was constructed during 1929-1930 as a U.S. Post Office and Courthouse. It was designed in 1928-1929 by the Office of the Supervising Architect under James A. Wetmore. Planning for the building began in 1910, when the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill authorizing the purchase of a site for a new post office in Tucson. That was the same year that the statehood bill, discussed since Congress deemed Arizona worthy of statehood in 1888, finally passed the House of Representatives. Still, Arizona did not become a state until 1912. It would be another 20 years before the building was constructed. When the Treasury Department failed to act, the city purchased the site recommended by the federal site agent who visited Tucson in 1911, and the city donated the property to the federal government. Delays continued because by this time Congress had instituted a moratorium on construction due to negative publicity surrounding the awarding of building contracts. In the interim, the federal government leased out the land and a gas station and other businesses occupied the parcel. Congress lifted the construction moratorium in 1926. The appropriation for design and construction of the building occurred in 1928. Scheduled for completion in December 1930, the building was completed ahead of schedule, and opened for business on September 19, 1930. The post office operated in the building until 1974. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 as "U.S. Post Office and Courthouse". In 1985, the United States Congress passed a bill renaming the building in honor of James Augustine Walsh, who served as a federal district judge from 1952 to 1981. For the first eighteen years of his tenure Walsh was the only judge in the U.S. District Court in Tucson. The U.S. District Court moved out of the Walsh Courthouse in 2000 into the newly completed Evo A. DeConcini Courthouse in Tucson. In 2002, a remodeling project was begun in order to accommodate the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which would be the new long-term tenant of the building. After the first phase of the project was completed, the Bankruptcy Court moved in and remained in the building during the second phase of construction, completed in 2008. The building is a well-executed, well-preserved example of the Neoclassical architectural style. The building was designed in 1928-1929 by the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, then under the direction of Acting Supervising Architect James A. Wetmore. The Walsh building is a neoclassical arrangement modified by a Mission-style roof. The neoclassical style is characterized by symmetry of plan, frontal arrangement, monumental proportions, and flat, smooth or polished stone surfaces. The Treasury Department favored neoclassicism as the appropriate architectural style for most of the federal buildings constructed during this time period. However, the Mission-style variations on the building are used to moderate the rigid neoclassical lines while acknowledging the local building tradition.
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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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Questions about this property
When was U.S. Post Office and Courthouse listed on the National Register?
U.S. Post Office and Courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 10, 1983.
What type of historic resource is U.S. Post Office and Courthouse?
U.S. Post Office and Courthouse is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for U.S. Post Office and Courthouse?
The period of significance for U.S. Post Office and Courthouse is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near U.S. Post Office and Courthouse?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near U.S. Post Office and Courthouse will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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