{"nrhp_refnum":"95000101","name":"Lubbock Post Office and Federal Building","other_names":["Lubbock County Office Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"800 Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lubbock","county":"Lubbock County","state":"TX","lat":33.585142794000035,"lon":-101.84362971199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-02-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story Classical Revival post office and federal building at 800 Broadway in downtown Lubbock, Texas, built 1931-1932 to designs of James A. Wetmore by the William McDonald Construction Co.","why_significant":"The building reflects the federal government's role in establishing Lubbock as the hub of the South Plains. Deviations from standard Treasury designs, such as limestone and buff brick, show local leaders influencing the federal design process. It is also considered the best surviving local example of classicism in public architecture of the 1920s and early 1930s.","narrative":"Rising three stories above Broadway in downtown Lubbock, this post office and federal building was constructed in 1931 and 1932 to a design by James A. Wetmore, with William McDonald Construction Co. as builder. Its symmetrical south facade has a pedimented central portico with colossal Ionic columns, a limestone ground floor, buff brick upper floors and a clay tile hipped roof, recalling an Italian Renaissance palazzo. Bronze bas-relief panels depict a dolphin, eagle and compass for mail carried by sea, air and land. The building reflects years of lobbying by Lubbock civic leaders, who pressed for a new post office and federal court as the city grew into the South Plains hub. They also persuaded Treasury officials to replace planned red brick with stone and light brick matching nearby buildings. Federal offices left in 1968 for a newer building. Lubbock County now owns the building and uses it for county offices and a courtroom, and the third-floor Federal Court Room remains largely intact.","period_of_significance":"1931-1945","architect_builder":"Wetmore, James A. (architect); William McDonald Construction Co. (builder)","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Owned and operated by Lubbock County; houses county departments and a courtroom used for family law hearings.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.606354-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/80/9728/40972880/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/95000101.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000101/9af2cd7796-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000101/9af2cd7796-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Leaflet","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lubbock_Texas_Old_Federal_Courthouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Leaflet</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:Lubbock_Texas_Old_Federal_Courthouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972880","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubbock_Post_Office_and_Federal_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16981527"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/lubbock-county/lubbock-post-office-and-federal-building-95000101/"}