The Federal Building (also known as the United States Post Office) is a US government office building located at 600 Church Street in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2013.

History

Postal service in Flint was established in 1832, and the post office location changed a number of times through the nineteenth century. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Flint began to grow hand-in-hand with the rise of the automobile industry, and in 1909 the post office moved into a new building on Kearsley Street. However, Flint's rapid growth quickly made even the new post office too small. In response, an addition was built in 1921, and a branch office established in 1925. However, even in 1926, the postal facilities were woefully inadequate, with lines for the teller window stretching over half a block on occasions. Local citizens lobbied the US government for a new building, and in 1927 announced that a new Flint Post Office would be placed in the first building program authorized for funding. A site was chosen in 1928, and in 1930 James A. Wetmore, Acting Supervisory Architect of the Treasury Department, signed off on a set of plans for the new building. Construction was completed in 1931. In addition to housing a new post office, the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

all opened offices in the new building. The building served as the main Flint facility until about 1960, when a new post office was constructed. The Church Street location was remodeled to serve as a branch post office, as well as housing other federal facilities including the courts.

Description

The Flint Federal Building is a classical

Art Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by Aerodynamics, aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In indu ...

two-story building faced with Kasota limestone. The front facade is symmetrical, end extends for 230 feet along Church Street. The facade contains a broad pavilion with colonnade with four bays to each side. A terrace edged with a balustrade projects from the central pavilion, and leads to three pedimented doorways. Window openings in the central colonnade and the side bays feature stacked windows with spandrels between them. Polychromatic terra-cotta panels with Art Moderne iconography, thematic to the buildings use, are set into the spandrels as well as into the parapet wall above. A large one-story wing and a modern secure garage project from the rear of the building.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Genesee County, Michigan Moderne architecture in the United States Government buildings completed in 1931 Buildings and structures in Flint, Michigan