{"nrhp_refnum":"01000434","name":"El Paso US Courthouse","other_names":["El Paso Federal Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"511 W. San Antonio Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"El Paso","county":"El Paso County","state":"TX","lat":31.75916591200007,"lon":-106.48383418699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-04-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture","Art"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story (plus basement) Moderne-style federal courthouse and office building at 511 East San Antonio Avenue in downtown El Paso, Texas, constructed in 1936 and clad in buff limestone.","why_significant":"It is significant under Criterion A for its link to 1930s federal construction and art programs meant to relieve Depression-era unemployment. It is significant under Criterion C as an example of Moderne design with Classical Revival elements. Its Tom Lea, Jr. mural in the south lobby also gives it significance in the area of Art.","narrative":"Rising five stories above downtown El Paso, this federal courthouse at 511 East San Antonio Avenue was completed in 1936 in the Moderne style with restrained Classical details. It is clad in buff limestone with terra cotta ornament, cast aluminum spandrel panels and steel windows. A team of El Paso and Philadelphia architects designed it under the Treasury Department's Office of the Supervising Architect, and Robert E. McKee Construction Company built it. Twenty-eight federal agencies originally moved in, including customs, immigration, the weather bureau and the courts. Inside, terrazzo floors, marble wainscoting, original hardware and a fourth-floor courtroom survive. The south lobby holds a 53-foot mural, Pass to the North, painted by El Paso artist Tom Lea, Jr. in 1937-1938 under a Treasury arts program. The building was listed for its connection to Depression-era federal construction and art programs, its architecture, and that mural. Changes have mostly affected the interior, especially the light courts and upper lobbies.","period_of_significance":"1936-1950","architect_builder":"Percy McGhee and Guy L. Fraser (El Paso, TX) and Thomas P. Lippencott (Philadelphia, PA), architects; Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect, U.S. Department of Treasury; Robert E. McKee Construction Company, contractor","architectural_style":"Moderne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a courthouse and government offices; alterations are mostly interior, and the exterior is largely unaltered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.683847-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/98/9718/40971898/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/01000434.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000434/a98098c973-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000434/a98098c973-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"General Services Administration - they list photographer as n/a","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Paso_Federal_Courthouse_1936.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">General Services Administration - they list photographer as n/a</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Paso_Federal_Courthouse_1936.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"97000885","name":"El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/el-paso-county-water-improvement-district-no-1-97000885/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971898","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_House_(El_Paso)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7889666"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/el-paso-county/el-paso-us-courthouse-01000434/"}