Jacob Weinberger U.S. Courthouse
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U.S. Courthouse
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Jacob Weinberger U.S. Courthouse, June 2003
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| Location | 325 W. F St., San Diego, California |
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| Coordinates | 32°42′48″N 117°9′55″W / 32.71333°N 117.16528°WCoordinates: 32°42′48″N 117°9′55″W / 32.71333°N 117.16528°W |
| Area | 1.3 acres (0.53 ha) |
| Built | 1913 |
| Architect | Taylor, James Knox |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival, Mission/Spanish Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 75000468 |
| Added to NRHP | January 29, 1975 |
The Jacob Weinberger U.S. Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located in San Diego, California. It is a courthouse for the United States bankruptcy court for the Southern District of California.
Fueled by plans to build the Panama Canal, the turn of the 20th century brought aspirations of prosperity and status to San Diego. Civic leaders who lobbied for the construction of the canal hoped that the promise of increased commerce would establish San Diego as an international trade center rivaling San Francisco. A new federal building was commissioned to showcase San Diego's newfound standing and to provide governmental offices in anticipation of a burgeoning population and urban growth. To attract attention to the city, civic leaders began planning the 1915 Panama-California Exposition to celebrate the successful completion of the canal. The U.S. Courthouse was completed in 1913 and opened in time for the Exposition.
Originally called the U.S. Post Office and Customs House, the building also housed the U.S. District Court, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and the U.S. Weather Bureau. When economic crisis followed the outbreak of World War I, urban development in San Diego decelerated, halting plans to construct additional civic buildings adjacent to the U.S. Courthouse. Instead, the Courthouse's large front lawn was converted to a “victory” vegetable garden to support the war effort.
When prosperity was renewed during the 1950s and 1960s, the Courthouse's caseloads became the heaviest in the nation, requiring a new Federal building complex, which was completed nearby in 1976. Even though the Courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, it was abandoned for the following decade. Attention refocused on the building in 1985, when much of the interior was gutted for conversion to INS offices. That same year, however, champions of historic preservation campaigned to restore the building. In 1988, the U.S. Courthouse was renamed in honor of Judge Jacob Weinberger. In 1994, an award-winning renovation and restoration project renewed the historic lobby and main courtroom to their original beauty while creating new offices and courtrooms that evoked the elegant style of the 1913 period.
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