U.S. Post Office, Court House, and Custom House

About this property

The United States Post Office and Courthouse is a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, located in New Bern, North Carolina. The building was completed in 1935, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, as a contributing building within the New Bern Historic District, and was individually listed in 2018. As the town of New Bern grew into a busy port and commercial hub, the need for federal services increased. In 1897, the government constructed a Romanesque Revival building at the corner of Pollock and Craven streets to house a post office and courthouse. By the 1930s, however, the city required a larger facility, and officials chose not to expand the 1897 structure , the U.S. Department of the Treasury chose a site bounded by Middle, Broad, Hancock, and New streets. Controversy arose when business owners objected to the new location, and the Daughters of the American Revolution passed a resolution opposing the destruction of the John Wright Stanly House, an 18th-century Georgian building on the proposed lot. Officials proceeded with the project after the City of New Bern agreed to purchase the 1897 building for its city hall, and the Stanly House was relocated. Construction of the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse began in 1933. Local architect Robert F. Smallwood designed the building, which opened on April 1, 1935, and cost $325,000 to build. At the time of its completion, it was one of the largest and most expensive buildings in the Eastern Carolina region. For a brief time, the new building also served as a custom house. During World War II, the United States Marine Corps Command Contingent occupied the second and third floors. For much of its existence, matters addressed in the court were brought before John Davis Larkins, Jr., who was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and who served there until his death in 1990. There, Larkins tried several important cases, which greatly strengthened both civil rights and environmental protection legislation. In 1973, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building within the nationally significant New Bern Historic District. In 1992, the post office vacated the building but retained ownership. In 2004, the U.S. General Services Administration assumed ownership and initiated a renovation. The building is an example of the Georgian Revival style of architecture. This style is heavily influenced by colonial-era precedents and employs classical ornamentation. The building is three stories and sits atop a granite base. It is clad in red brick veneer that is laid in a common bond pattern. Contrasting limestone trim accentuates the exterior.

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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