{"nrhp_refnum":"94001620","name":"US Post Office and Courthouse-Pittsburgh","other_names":["See also:Pittsburgh Central Downtown Historic District"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of 7th and Grant Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.44156574300007,"lon":-79.99989758499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-02-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A ten-story steel-frame federal building clad in stone, occupying an entire city block in downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, combining a United States Post Office with ceremonial federal courtrooms. It was designed by Trowbridge & Livingston of New York City and opened to the public on October 13, 1934.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a typical example of Federal architecture from the transition between the Beaux Arts and Art Deco styles in the 1920s and 1930s, and that it remains largely intact. Its design balances Beaux Arts symmetry and massing with restrained Art Deco detailing, and its courtrooms carry richly finished interiors and WPA murals. It was also built as part of a national federal building program, and its site was selected for its proximity to the Pennsylvania Railroad.","narrative":"Built between 1931 and 1934 on a former vacant lot in downtown Pittsburgh, the ten-story steel-frame building is clad in limestone and granite and fills its entire block bounded by Grant and Seventh Streets. It was designed by the New York firm Trowbridge & Livingston, who had recently completed the Gulf Building across Grant Street. The west facade uses two monumental entrance blocks, two-story arched windows and bronze grilles, while its interior uses a restrained Art Deco vocabulary in the corridors. The sixth and eighth floors hold five two-story ceremonial courtrooms with carved judges' benches, paneled walls and decorative plaster ceilings. Two of these courtrooms contain WPA murals, Steel Industry by Howard Cook and View of Pittsburgh by Stuyvesant Van Veen. The building is significant as a representative federal work of the late 1920s and early 1930s, one of many federal buildings then constructed nationwide under the Public Buildings Act. Its design shows the shift between the Beaux Arts and Art Deco styles, and its primary public spaces remain largely unaltered.","period_of_significance":"1931-1934","architect_builder":"Trowbridge & Livingston (architects), New York City","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals; Beaux Arts; Art Deco influence","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"In good condition, with post office and office spaces altered over time and courtrooms on the upper floors largely intact.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:37.036826-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/94001620.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001620/c41a728e51-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001620/c41a728e51-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USPS_15222_Pittsb_Grant_St_sun_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:USPS_15222_Pittsb_Grant_St_sun_jeh.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"13000249","name":"Fourth Avenue Historic District (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/fourth-avenue-historic-district-boundary-increase-13000249/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997626","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_F._Weis,_Jr._U.S._Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7891103"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/us-post-office-and-courthouse-pittsburgh-94001620/"}