Laredo United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House

	Laredo US Post Office, Court House and Custom House
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, August 2003
	Laredo US Post Office, Court House and Custom House Laredo US Post Office, Court House and Custom House
Location	1300 Matamoros,; Laredo, Texas
Coordinates	27°30′22″N99°30′25″W / 27.50611°N 99.50694°W Coordinates: 27°30′22″N99°30′25″W / 27.50611°N 99.50694°W
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1907
Architectural style	Classical Revival
NRHP reference #	01000516 [1]
Added to NRHP	May 18, 2001

Last updated September 10, 2019

The U.S. Post Office and Courthouse is a historic government building located in Laredo in Webb County, Texas. It previously served as a custom house and a courthouse for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. It continues to serve as a post office.

Laredo is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a village to the capital of the brief Republic of the Rio Grande to the largest inland port on the Mexico–United States border. Laredo's economy is based on international trade with Mexico. Many major transportation companies have a facility in Laredo. The city is on the southern end of I-35 which makes it close to the manufacturers in northern Mexico. It has four international bridges and one railway bridge.

Webb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 250,304. Its county seat is Laredo. The county was named after James Webb, who served as Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, and Attorney General of the Republic of Texas, and later judge of the United States District Court following the admission of Texas to statehood. By area, Webb County is the largest county in South Texas and the sixth largest in the state.

Custom house Government office building for import and export of goods

A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting customs duty on imported goods. A custom house was typically located in a seaport or in a city on a major river, with access to an ocean. These cities acted as a port of entry into a country.

Building history

Founded on the Rio Grande by a Spanish settler in 1755, the city of Laredo became part of Mexico in 1821. In 1840, Laredo was named capital of the Republic of the Rio Grande during a rebellion that Mexico soon quashed. Laredo's allegiance remained with Mexico until 1845, when the United States annexed Texas and the Mexican–American War subsequently began. In 1848, under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the two governments established the Rio Grande as the boundary between the United States and Mexico, making Laredo part of the United States. The following year, postal service in Laredo began.^[2]

The Rio Grande is one of the principal rivers in the southwest United States and northern Mexico. The Rio Grande begins in south-central Colorado in the United States and flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way, it forms part of the Mexico–United States border. According to the International Boundary and Water Commission, its total length was 1,896 miles (3,051 km) in the late 1980s, though course shifts occasionally result in length changes. Depending on how it is measured, the Rio Grande is either the fourth - or fifth-longest river system in North America.

Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost 2,000,000 square kilometers (770,000 sq mi), the nation is the fourth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent state in the world. With an estimated population of over 129 million people, Mexico is the tenth most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world, while being the second most populous nation in Latin America after Brazil. Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states plus Mexico City (CDMX), which is the capital city and its most populous city. Other metropolises in the country include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, and León.

The Republic of the Rio Grande was an independent nation that insurgents fighting against the Central Mexican Republic sought to establish in northern Mexico. The Republic of the Rio Grande was just one of a series of independence movements in Mexico under the unitary government dominated by Santa Anna, including the Republic of Texas, the Republic of Zacatecas, and the Republic of Yucatán. The rebellion lasted from January 17 to November 6, 1840.

During the late-19th century, Laredo entered a period of economic prosperity stimulated by the railroad, coal mining, and irrigated farming. The population tripled, and with this growth came a demand for government services. As Laredo became known as the gateway to Mexico, the federal government began preparations to construct a new post office, courthouse, and custom house. James Knox Taylor, Supervising Architect of the Treasury, designed the Neoclassical-style building. Early plans included an eight-foot-high wall that would have surrounded the building. After the public protested this restrictive component of the design, Taylor removed it. Groundbreaking commenced in 1905 and employees occupied the building, which cost $650,000 to construct, in 1907. In 1935, the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, then overseen by Louis A. Simon, designed an addition to the building to accommodate the growing space needs. The addition doubled the size of the building, which now occupies an entire city block. In 1962, the customs service vacated the building.^[2]

James Knox Taylor was Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1897 to 1912. His name is listed ex officio as supervising architect of hundreds of federal buildings built throughout the United States during the period.

Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century. In its purest form, it is a style principally derived from the architecture of classical antiquity, the Vitruvian principles, and the work of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio.

Louis A. Simon (1867–1958) was an American architect. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland.

In 2004, a new federal courthouse was built to accommodate District and Magistrate court functions. The historic building continues to serve as a post office and federal courthouse, and contains office space for the U.S. Department of Justice.^[2]

The U.S. Post Office and Courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 for its historical and architectural significance.^[1]

National Register of Historic Places Federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred in preserving the property.

Architecture

The U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, a significant local landmark in Laredo, is an excellent example of the Neoclassical style of architecture. It is located at 1300 Matamoros in downtown Laredo, two blocks from City Hall and the Webb County Courthouse. The building displays many character-defining features of the Neoclassical style, which was commonly used in federal building design during the early-20th century because it conveyed a strong and dignified governmental presence. Constructed predominantly of limestone on the exterior, the building also employs high-quality materials such as terrazzo and marble on the interior. The street level of the south-facing, symmetrical facade is dominated by a series of round-arched openings that together form an arcade. Scrolled keystones top each arch. The rusticated limestone on the first story distinguishes the ground level from the smooth upper floors. On the second story, the area beneath a prominent central portico features three arched doorways separated by pilasters. The doorways are slightly recessed and are surrounded by decorative molding and surmounted with ornate carvings. Each carving includes an articulated keystone beneath an oval medallion crowned with a shell motif called a coquillage. Cornucopias of fruit and leaves flank the medallion. A dentil course tops each doorway. Large multi-pane tripartite windows occupy the third story. At the eastern and western ends of the facade, glazed, multi-pane doors on the second story have segmental arched openings with articulated surrounds and keystones. The doorways lead to small balconets that feature scrolled, cast iron railings. Windows on the third story are rectangular and feature surrounds similar to those on the second-story doors.^[2]

Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder, polymeric, or a combination of both. Metal strips often divide sections, or changes in color or material in a pattern. Additional chips may be sprinkled atop the mix before it sets. After it is cured it is ground and polished smooth or otherwise finished to produce a uniformly textured surface.

A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultures, including most Western cultures.

A pilaster is an architectural element in classical architecture used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall surface, usually treated as though it were a column, with a capital at the top, plinth (base) at the bottom, and the various other column elements. In contrast to a pilaster, an engaged column or buttress can support the structure of a wall and roof above.

The projecting central portion of the upper stories contains a classical portico with a pediment supported by four, two-story Roman Doric order columns. The frieze contains triglyphs, incised patterns commonly paired with Doric columns, which alternate with paterae, circular medallions that occupy the spaces in the frieze called metopes. The tympanum, or triangular area of the pediment, contains a single, large, centrally placed patera that is flanked with a foliated pattern. Mutule blocks, another Doric detail, line the tympanum. Delicate cast-iron railings occupy the spaces between the columns. While the remaining elevations of the building are less ornate, they contain many classical features, including the incised first story and arched openings.^[2]

The dignified appearance of the exterior is carried through the interior. The postal lobby, which remains in use, has terrazzo floors. Plaster walls are decorated with marble baseboards and wainscoting and iron grilles featuring a square-and-x motif are located above postal boxes on some walls. The plaster ceiling is crowned by a molded cornice with dentils. The elevator lobby also features terrazzo flooring and decorative cast-iron elevator enclosures. A marble staircase that connects the second and third levels has a scrolled, cast-iron balustrade that terminates in a floral-motif pilaster.^[2]

The postal workroom remains in its original location at the center of the postal lobby corridors. The original walls, piers, and columns are clad in vertical wood wainscot with wood cap and base moldings on the lower portions with plaster above. However, the space has been altered to accommodate public service counters and additional postal boxes.^[2]

The courtrooms have been altered over time. The second-story courtroom was previously partitioned for office space, but converted back to a single room in 1972, although neither the furniture nor the finishes were restored. The third-floor courtroom retains its original plan. The cornice, doors, windows, radiator enclosures, and bench remain, although other original finishes have been removed or covered.^[2]

Significant events

1849 – Postal service established in Laredo after it becomes part of U.S.
1905–1907 – Building constructed
1935 – Addition constructed
2001 – Building listed in the National Register of Historic Places as Laredo US Post Office, Court House and Custom House
2004 – District and Magistrate courts relocate

Building facts

Location: 1300 Matamoros
Architects: James Knox Taylor; Louis A. Simon
Construction Dates: 1905–1907; 1935
Architectural Style: Neoclassical
Landmark Status: Listed in the National Register of Historic Places
Primary Materials: Limestone
Prominent Features: First-floor Arcade; Portico with Roman Doric Columns

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References

1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. 2010-07-09.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "GSA - Find a Building". U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, Laredo, Texas : Building Overview. U.S. General Services Administration. 2009-08-24.

Attribution

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents ofthe General Services Administration .

External links

Media related to Laredo United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House at Wikimedia Commons

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[nris-1] 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. 2010-07-09.

[GSA-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "GSA - Find a Building". U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, Laredo, Texas : Building Overview. U.S. General Services Administration. 2009-08-24.

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