{"nrhp_refnum":"06000001","name":"US Court House and Post Office","other_names":["U.S. Courthouse","United States Post Office and Courthouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"312 N. Spring St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Los Angeles","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.055081501000046,"lon":-118.2416035116802,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-02-09","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"2012-10-16","areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["national","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A seventeen-story federal courthouse and post office at 312 North Spring Street in the Los Angeles Civic Center, completed in 1940 in the PWA Moderne style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant under Criterion C as one of the best examples of a major PWA Moderne federal building in the United States, embodying a type and period and the work of a master. It was also the largest federal building in the West when completed in 1940, and it forms part of the historic architectural core of the Civic Center.","narrative":"Rising seventeen stories on the northern edge of the Los Angeles Civic Center, this federal courthouse and post office was completed in 1940 and remains in use as a courthouse and government offices. Its stepped massing combines Beaux Arts symmetry with Moderne forms. The steel-frame and concrete structure is clad in pale pink ceramic veneer above a base of dark Minnesota granite, with fluted piers, terra cotta eagles and aluminum grilles. Inside, the main lobbies have polychrome terrazzo floors, varied marble walls, painted plaster ceilings and aluminum light fixtures. The nomination presents it as one of the finest examples of PWA Moderne federal architecture in the country and as the largest federal building in the West at its completion. It also marked the federal government's presence across from City Hall. Alterations in the 1960s removed the post office, and security upgrades followed in 1993, but the exterior and principal public spaces remain largely intact.","period_of_significance":"1937-41","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Modern Movement/Art Moderne; Other: PWA Moderne","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a federal courthouse and offices; the post office facilities were removed in the 1960s and the exterior and main public interior spaces retain high integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.537741-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/06000001.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000001/289231d5f9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000001/289231d5f9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Los Angeles","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Court_House,_Los_Angeles.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Los Angeles</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:U.S._Court_House,_Los_Angeles.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859586","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Street_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7889667"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/us-court-house-and-post-office-06000001/"}