{"nrhp_refnum":"01000438","name":"Galveston US Post Office, Custom House and Courthouse","other_names":["Galveston Federal Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"25th St. and F Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Galveston","county":"Galveston County","state":"TX","lat":29.30236102500004,"lon":-94.79601457499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-04-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A seven-story, limestone-clad federal building at 25th Street and F Avenue in Galveston, Texas, built in 1937 to house a post office, custom house and courthouse. Alfred C. Finn designed it under the Treasury Department's Supervising Architect.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant locally under Criterion A for its link to Depression-era federal construction programs that aimed to reduce unemployment, and for providing a federal presence and services in Galveston. Under Criterion C it is an excellent example of Art Deco architecture, specifically the style known as PWA or WPA Moderne used for 1930s public buildings.","narrative":"Rising seven stories above 25th Street in downtown Galveston, this limestone-clad federal building opened in 1937 as a combined post office, custom house and courthouse. Houston architect Alfred C. Finn designed it under the Treasury Department's Supervising Architect, and the Algernon Blair Construction Company of Montgomery, Alabama, built it after the 1891 federal building on the site was demolished. Art Deco features include vertical window bays, stylized pilasters, carved eagles over the entrances, metal grilles and a red clay barrel-tile roof. Inside, the postal lobby has Tennessee marble walls and terrazzo floors, and the sixth-floor courtroom retains walnut paneling and original furnishings. The building was listed for its connection to New Deal construction programs that created jobs during the Depression and for its quality as an example of the PWA Moderne form of Art Deco. Its period of significance runs from 1937 to 1950, and it continues to hold federal offices, postal service and a courtroom.","period_of_significance":"1937-1950","architect_builder":"Finn, Alfred C., Houston, TX - Architect; Fraser, Andrew, Galveston, TX - Consulting Architect; Algernon Blair Construction Co., Montgomery, AL - Contractor; Simon, Louis A. - Supervising Architect, U.S. Treasury Dept.; Melick, Neil A. - Supervising Engineer; Farley, James A. - Project Director","architectural_style":"Modern Movement: Art Deco","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in federal use as a post office, courthouse and government offices; the form reports a high degree of integrity despite window replacement and some exterior and interior alterations.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.781748-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/70/9720/40972070/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/01000438.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000438/0a063ae2d8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000438/0a063ae2d8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Nsaum75","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galveston_Federal_Building_2009.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nsaum75</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galveston_Federal_Building_2009.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972070","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galveston_United_States_Post_Office_and_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5519431"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/galveston-county/galveston-us-post-office-custom-house-and-courthouse-01000438/"}