National Register of Historic Places

Federal Building and Courthouse

Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina
Listed
May 1, 1974
Type
Building
Period
Early Republic
Ref No.
74001363

About this property

Alton Lennon Federal Building and Courthouse, also known as the Customs House, is a historic Federal building and courthouse located at Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina. It was designed by the Office of the Supervising Architect under James A. Wetmore and built between 1916 and 1919. It is an imposing three-story, Classical Revival style light sandstone building. It consists of a central mass with balanced projecting wings having engaged pedimented porticos. The design of the front facade of the earlier 1840s customs house is incorporated into the projecting wings to the cast iron details. The building measures 332 feet by 113 feet. The building was named for U.S. Congressman and Senator Alton Lennon (1906-1986) in 1976. It was used as the outside of the courthouse on seasons 7-9 of Andy Griffith's TV series Matlock on ABC. The Lennon Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It is located in the Wilmington Historic District. It houses the Wilmington Division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Location

Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina
34.23544, -77.94972

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
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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Nearby Historic Sites

City Hall/Thalian Hall
Industrial
0.2 mi
USS NORTH CAROLINA
Industrial
0.2 mi
USS NORTH CAROLINA (BB-55) National Historic Landmark
Industrial
0.4 mi
Wilmington Historic and Archeological District
Listed
0.5 mi
Wilmington Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Colonial
0.6 mi

Nearby Battles

Skirmish at Forks Road — Wilmington 1865
1865Civil War
0.7 mi
Capture of Wilmington
1865Civil War
0.7 mi

Questions about this property

When was Federal Building and Courthouse listed on the National Register?

Federal Building and Courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 1, 1974.

What type of historic resource is Federal Building and Courthouse?

Federal Building and Courthouse is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Federal Building and Courthouse?

The period of significance for Federal Building and Courthouse is recorded as the early_republic era.

Can I research the history near Federal Building and Courthouse?

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