The U.S. Custom House and Post Office is a
court house
A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English- ...
at 815 Olive Street in downtown
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
.
It was designed by
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
s
Alfred B. Mullett
Alfred Bult Mullett (April 7, 1834 – October 20, 1890) was a British-American architect who served from 1866 to 1874 as Supervising Architect, head of the agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government build ...
,
William Appleton Potter
William Appleton Potter (December 10, 1842 – February 19, 1909) was an American architect who designed numerous buildings for Princeton University, as well as municipal offices and churches. He served as a Supervising Architect of the Treasury ...
, and
James G. Hill
James G. Hill (1841–1913) was an American architect who, during the period 1876 to 1883, headed the Office of the Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury, which oversaw major Federal buildings.
During that period ...
,
[St. Louis, Missouri, 1884]
'' Federal Judicial Center'' and was constructed between 1873 and 1884.
Located at the intersection of Eighth and Olive Streets, it is one of four surviving Federal office buildings designed by Mullett. The others are the
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB)—formerly known as the Old Executive Office Building (OEOB), and originally as the State, War, and Navy Building—is a U.S. government building situated just west of the White House in the U.S. ca ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, the
Century Post Office in
Raleigh, N.C.
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southea ...
and the
U.S. Custom House in
Portland, Me
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
. It is in the
Second Empire Second Empire may refer to:
* Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783
* Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396)
* Second French Empire (1852–1870)
** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...
architectural style popular in the post Civil-War era.
Mullett's other Second Empire buildings in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
have been demolished.
Description
The three-story monumental granite building is long and deep. It includes a basement, sub-basement and attic level, with ceilings at the basement levels and thick foundation walls, which are surrounded by a deep dry moat for light and ventilation. The basement connects to a tunnel under 8th Street that was used for the delivery of mail to the post office. The basement material is red Missouri granite, while the upper floors are gray granite from Hurricane Island, Maine, between and in thickness. The building surrounds a skylit inner courtyard, by .
High ceilings predominate in the main structure, with first floor ceilings at and second and third floors at . Interior structure is a mixture of
wrought and
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
, supporting arched brick floors in a system that was referred to at the time of construction as "fireproof." The building's windows were provided with fireproof shutters.
The principal facade is the southern, along Olive Street, which features an iron
mansard
A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...
dome. Each street elevation features a central pavilion which in turn bears a portico. The Olive Street elevation's pediment is ornamented by the 1877 sculpture "America at War and America at Peace" by
Daniel Chester French, his first major commission. Double-hung windows are set in cast iron frames throughout the building. Cast iron trim and molding frames interior sides of windows and doors. Interior detailing was extensive, with art glass panels, mosaic tile floors and bronze door knobs imprinted with the
Seal of the United States. Thirty offices on the second, third and fourth floors featured red Bologna marble fireplace mantels.
History
The Customhouse and Post Office was constructed under the supervision of architect James G, Hill and construction superintendent Thomas Walsh, for a total cost of $5,686,854.68. The third floor of building was occupied by the U.S District Court until 1935, when it moved to new quarters at 12th and Market streets. The Post Office remained until 1970, occupying the main basement and the first floor. A number of Federal agencies were housed on the fourth floor.
![US-MO(1891) p448 ST](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/US-MO%281891%29_p448_ST._LOUIS%2C_POST_OFFICE.jpg)
The
met at this courthouse until 1935, and the
U.S. Circuit Court that district met here until that court was abolished in 1912. The
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts:
* Eastern District of Arkansas
* Western Distr ...
met here from 1891 until 1935.
[ It was transferred from the U.S. ]General Services Administration
The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
to the State of Missouri through the Federal Historic Surplus Property Program
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
in September 2004. It is currently a mixed-use facility serving federal, state, and private purposes. The building was to the downtown campus for Webster University
Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It offers undergraduate and graduate program ...
until the campus was relocated to the adjacent Arcade Building upon the completion of its renovation in late 2015.[ Soon after, ]Lindenwood University
Lindenwood University is a private university in St. Charles, Missouri. Founded in 1827 by George Champlin Sibley and Mary Easton Sibley as The Lindenwood School for Girls, it is the second-oldest higher-education institution west of the Mis ...
announced it would relocate its downtown campus to Webster University's former space. The Missouri Court of Appeals
The Missouri Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Missouri. The court handles most of the appeals from the Missouri Circuit Courts. The court is divided into three geographic districts: Eastern (based in St. ...
, Eastern District, also occupies the building.
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Downtown and Downtown West St. Louis
*List of National Historic Landmarks in Missouri
The National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in the U.S. state of Missouri represent Missouri's history from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, through the American Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Space Age. There are 37 National Historic La ...
References
External links
*
* at the National Park Service's NRHP database
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Customhouse And Post Office, Saint Louis, Missouri
Government buildings completed in 1884
National Historic Landmarks in Missouri
Historic American Buildings Survey in Missouri
Buildings and structures in St. Louis
Former federal courthouses in the United States
Alfred B. Mullett buildings
Second Empire architecture in Missouri
Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri
Post office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri
Landmarks of St. Louis
Custom houses in the United States
National Register of Historic Places in St. Louis
Custom houses on the National Register of Historic Places
Downtown St. Louis
1884 establishments in Missouri
Tourist attractions in St. Louis