The Sidney R. Yates Federal Building, historically known as the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and later the Auditor's Building Complex, is a large historic federal building located on the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...

and built between 1878 and 1880 that has housed multiple federal government offices. It is an L-shaped building of red and black

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

construction in the Romanesque style and was designed by the office of

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 h ...

, the

Supervising Architect of the Treasury The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939. About The office handled some of the most important architectural commissions of t ...

. () The brick was provided by the Peerless Brick Company of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The builder was John Fraser, Superintendent of Construction for the Treasury, and the bricklayers were Bitting & Davidson. The building was originally designed and constructed for the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

Bureau of Engraving and Printing The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is a government agency within the United States Department of the Treasury that designs and produces a variety of security products for the Federal Government of the United States, United States governm ...

(BEP). The Bureau was founded in 1862 to allow the federal government to produce its own official documents; private companies having done so prior to this. The Bureau's machinery and offices were originally located in the Treasury Building, but eventually more space was required. In 1878, land was purchased from philanthropist

William Wilson Corcoran William Wilson Corcoran (December 27, 1798 – February 24, 1888) was an American banker, philanthropist, and art collector. He founded the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Early life and education Corcoran was born on December 27, ...

and an

Act of Congress An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...

on June 28 of that year authorized commencement of construction. The building was completed in 1880. Three additions were later constructed in 1891, 1895 and 1900. The Bureau moved to a larger building at 14th & C Streets in 1914. Following the Bureau's move, the building was used by a number of government agencies, but primarily housed auditors from the Departments of

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

, and

State State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

, and became known as the "Auditors' Complex". Engravers from the BEP also later used space on the west of the building as it provided excellent natural light for their work. By the 1960s, the building had become underutilized and in need of major renovation. It was slated for demolition in 1966, but was postponed due to lack of funding. The building 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 April 1978 for its architectural and historical significance. The listing included three

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

, named Annex #1-3, on . Following a repair and modernization campaign in 1985–1987, the

USDA Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

moved into the building in 1990 and continues to occupy the building. In 1988, the 1891 addition known as the South Annex was demolished so that the adjacent

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...

could expand into the space. In 1999, it was redesignated the Sidney R. Yates Federal Building, honoring

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Congressman Sidney Richard Yates who helped establish the Holocaust Memorial Museum and served on its council. In 2017, a working clock was added to the tower. It had been a part of the original design, but was not installed due to excessive costs.

References

External links

Historic photo of building from GSA Twitter

Detail Photo of the Clock in the Tower

Details of conservation work by McKay Lodge Conservation Laboratory

Details of exterior restoration by Atlantic Refinishing & Restoration

Summary video of exterior restoration
United States Department of Agriculture facilities Government buildings completed in 1880 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Romanesque Revival architecture in Washington, D.C. {{WashingtonDC-NRHP-stub