The first Los Angeles federal building, more formally the Los Angeles Federal Courthouse and Post Office or U.S. Post Office and Custom House was a

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

red brick, brownstone and terra cotta structure designed by Will A. Freret. The building, located at the corner of Main Street and Winston Street, between Fourth and Fifth Streets, was used for about nine years, from 1892 to 1901, to house the

Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

, a U.S. post office, and the customs office. The building was partially demolished in 1901; Court moved to the Tajo Building in the meantime. The post office was housed at a series of locations until the second Los Angeles federal building opened in 1910.

History

In 1887, Congress allocated funding for federal building number 198. The building was occupied in summer 1892 and the cost was said to be $150,000. The building, after a modest expansion, eventually contained three main floors, a basement and an attic, altogether offering approximately 460,000 cubic feet of workspace. However, circa 1901, the building was deemed inadequate for the needs of the growing city, vacated, and partially but not wholly demolished. It was initially hoped that new construction on the same site could use some of the original framework. However, by 1905, as funding languished, the fenced-off ruin was generally described as a forlorn and hopeless wreck. Meanwhile, the post office moved between a series of temporary quarters: # Armory building at Eighth and

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

Grand Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...

and Seventh (before 1905) The federal district court, the U.S. attorney and the U.S. marshal moved to fourth floor of the Tajo Building on the northwest corner of

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and Broadway in 1901, and remained there until 1910. The site of the first federal building was sold in October 1906 for $314,000. Construction on the replacement on the site of the former Downey Block began 1906 on donated land. Circa 1910, the various federal offices relocated to the second Los Angeles federal building.

Gallery

References

{{Reflist Demolished buildings and structures in Los Angeles 1892 establishments in California 1901 disestablishments in California Courthouses in California Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles Civic Center, Los Angeles Federal courthouses in the United States Government buildings in Los Angeles Federal buildings in Los Angeles Government buildings completed in 1892 1890s architecture in the United States

History

Gallery

See also

References