{"nrhp_refnum":"74001267","name":"Federal Office Building","other_names":["U.S. Appraisers' Warehouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"641 Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.73220598100005,"lon":-74.00815809899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-08-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A massive ten-story Romanesque Revival brick warehouse at 641 Washington Street, at the corner of Christopher Street in Manhattan, occupying an entire city block. It was built between 1892 and 1899 as the U.S. Appraisers' Warehouse.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of the finest examples of Romanesque Revival architecture in New York and the finest example of the Chicago School outside the Midwest. Its facade treatment is tied to Adler and Sullivan's Chicago Auditorium. It was designed under several Treasury Supervising Architects, beginning with Willoughby J. Edbrooke.","narrative":"Covering an entire block at Washington and Christopher Streets in Manhattan, this ten-story brick building was constructed by the federal government between 1892 and 1899 as the U.S. Appraisers' Warehouse. Customs agents used its 153 rooms to examine, test and appraise imported goods so that duties could be set. Its walls are dark red brick with pink-tinted mortar, set on granite foundations, and the facades rely on rows of round arches, brick pilasters, granite belt courses and a corbelled cornice. The design began with Treasury architect Willoughby J. Edbrooke, who drew on Chicago office-building ideas, and was carried forward by several of his successors, including James Knox Taylor. Its upper stories echo Adler and Sullivan's Chicago Auditorium. A 1938 remodeling turned the interior into offices for federal agencies without changing the structure or exterior. The nomination ranks it among New York's finest Romanesque Revival buildings and the best Chicago School work outside the Midwest.","period_of_significance":"Begun 1892 - Completed 1899 (remodeled 1938)","architect_builder":"Willoughby J. Edbrooke (original design); William Martin Aiken; James Knox Taylor (final fenestration, upper eight stories); Jeremiah O'Rourke (built first two stories)","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival (Chicago School influence)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and unaltered; occupied by federal agencies, including a National Archives records center and a branch post office, after a 1938 interior remodeling.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.239377-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/74001267.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001267/8439484015-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001267/8439484015-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chris_Wash_US_Appraiser_warehouse_jeh.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chris_Wash_US_Appraiser_warehouse_jeh.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319481","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Office_Building_(New_York_City)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5440318"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/federal-office-building-74001267/"}