Federal Building and United States Court House

About this property

The William J. Holloway Jr. United States Courthouse (formerly the Federal Building and United States Courthouse) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma and the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. By the mid-1950s, the federal government had outgrown its courtroom and office space in Oklahoma City in the 1912 U.S. Post Office and Courthouse. Judge Alfred P. Murrah spearheaded the effort to secure funding for a new federal building and courthouse to be constructed directly north of the existing building. The government selected Oklahoma architect Dow Gumerson to design the new building. At that time, architects were designing federal buildings in Modern styles using innovative forms and materials. Following these trends while also retaining some traditions such as the use of high-quality materials and minimal Classical detailing, Gumerson eschewed the ornate architecture of the past and designed an unadorned yet dignified building. Gumerson's plans for the new five-story building were approved in 1959. Gumerson incorporated several innovative ideas for the interior spaces, which he designed for flexibility and function. When the federal judges indicated that they were resolving many cases through efficient pretrial conferences rather than long trials, Gumerson included special rooms resembling libraries that were less intimidating than courtrooms for informal meetings. These spaces remain in place, although some now serve additional functions such as law libraries for the judges. Construction was completed in 1961 at a cost of $7 million. Early occupants of the building included the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, United States Department of the Treasury, United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse is located within a federal complex that includes the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse and the Murrah Parking Garage and Plaza. The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was also part of this complex until the April 1995 truck bomb explosion that killed 168 people. Today, the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum occupies the site. The Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse withstood the blast, although some windows and lights shattered. In 2016, the building was renamed in honor of William Judson Holloway Jr. (1923–2014), a former chief judge of the Tenth Circuit. The Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse is a Modern building with a box-like form and minimal adornment. Architect Dow Gumerson paid special attention to the scale and details of the nearby 1912 U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, sensitively designing a building that does not overshadow neighboring architecture. The building is an example of Formalism, a style of Modern architecture that emphasizes high-quality materials, smooth wall surfaces, and columnar supports. It also retains characteristics of the earlier distinguished Stripped Classical style that architects used for federal buildings during the Great Depression era. Gumerson avoided many of the typical, mundane federal designs of the 1960s, making the building unusual among government facilities of its time. Gumerson's design is also notable for its use of fine materials on both the interior and exterior.

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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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