National Register of Historic Places

U.S. Post Office and Courthouse

Baltimore (Independent City), Baltimore County, Maryland
Listed
March 24, 1977
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
77001530

About this property

The United States Post Office and Courthouse is a historic combined post office and Federal courthouse located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The building occupies an entire city block and measures 238 ft 2 in (72.59 m) east-west by 279 ft 10 in (85.29 m) north-south. It is of steel frame construction with concrete floors and tile roof, basement of granite, and outer walls of white Indiana limestone. The structure is six stories in height and provided with basement and two sub-basements. It was completed in 1932 under the supervision the Office of the Supervising Architect under James A. Wetmore, and features classical ornamentation. 1934: Judge W. Calvin Chesnut became the first jurist to strike down a New Deal Act of Congress. 1948: Alger Hiss filed a libel suit against Whittaker Chambers 1968 and 1969: the Berrigans were indicted in this courthouse for destroying Federal records as a protest against the Vietnam War. 1973: Vice President Spiro T. Agnew pleaded nolo contendere to tax evasion and resigned as Vice President. 2009: Mayor Sheila Dixon was tried for 12 counts including perjury, theft and misconduct. She was convicted of fraudulent misappropriation and eventually resigned as mayor as part of a plea bargain in the Sheila Dixon trial. The U.S. Post Office and Courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It has since been conveyed to the City of Baltimore, and is in use by the Baltimore city courts. For many years, the courthouse was known colloquially as Courthouse East. On January 17, 2020, Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. Jack Young announced that the courthouse would be renamed the Elijah E. Cummings Courthouse in honor of the late 12-term United States Representative and civil rights activist from Baltimore. List of United States federal courthouses in Maryland Media related to United States Post Office and Courthouse (Baltimore, Maryland) at Wikimedia Commons Historic Federal Courthouses page from the Federal Judicial Center. United States Post Office and Courthouse, Baltimore City, including photo from 1985, at Maryland Historical Trust

Location

111 N. Calvert St.
Baltimore (Independent City), Baltimore County, Maryland
39.29208, -76.51895

Categories

LAWPOLITICS/GOVERNMENT
National Register nomination ›
Sources

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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Settlement
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Nearby Historic Sites

Bohemian National Cemetery
Pre Contact
2.1 mi
Dundalk Historic District
Listed
2.2 mi
Dundalk-Liberty-Cornwall Gardens
Industrial
2.2 mi
National Brewing Company
Industrial
2.6 mi
Gunther Brewing Company
Industrial
2.6 mi

Nearby Battles

Defense of Hampstead Hill — Baltimore Outer Line (Sep 13 1814)
1814Early Republic
1.1 mi
Battle of Baltimore / Fort McHenry
1814Early Republic
2.9 mi

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 March 24, 1977.

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.

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