US Post Office, Courthouse, and Custom House

About this property

The Federal Building and U.S. Post Office in Spokane, Washington, is a historic post office, courthouse, and custom house building at Spokane in Spokane County, Washington. It serves as a courthouse for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. The building opened in October 1909 and was the first major federal structure built in the Inland Empire, a region encompassing parts of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. As Spokane grew, the city required a larger post office and additional space for federal offices. The federal government acquired the site at West Riverside Avenue and Lincoln Street in 1903 for $100,000. James Knox Taylor, the Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department, designed the building in 1906 and 1907, with construction beginning in 1908 and completion in 1909. Shortly before its public opening, President William Howard Taft visited the building, praising its "simplicity, beauty, and solidity." In early October 1909, postal workers relocated records and equipment from the old post office at Post Street and Monroe Avenue to the new building in just two days, with minimal disruption to service. Only four months after the post office opened, rats were discovered in the basement. To remedy the problem, seven cats were allowed to live in the building, and the postmaster received $18 annually for each cat's care and feeding. The cats lived in the post office for at least one year, although no one is sure when the rat problem was solved. As Spokane continued to grow, city officials recognized the need to expand the facility. In 1941, an addition was built on the site directly north of the original structure. The expansion was designed by Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect of the Public Buildings Administration of the Federal Works Administration. In 1994, a modernization effort was completed. High efficiency lighting, modern elevators, and new HVAC equipment were installed. Important interior public spaces also underwent renovation and restoration. The Federal Building and U.S. Post Office was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. In 2004, the building won The Office Building of the Year Award in the historic category from the Building Owners and Managers Association Northwest Region. The Federal Building and U.S. Post Office in Spokane, Washington, skillfully blends elements of two styles of architecture. Beaux Arts Classicism and Second Renaissance Revival were popular styles in the early years of the twentieth century. Both styles were often executed on monumental public buildings and feature rusticated ground floors and balustrades. The building's architect, James Knox Taylor, was a strong proponent of architecture inspired by Classical forms and ornamentation, which he believed appropriately conveyed the dignity of the federal government.

Location

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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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