U.S. Post Office and Customhouse (Richmond, Virginia)
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U.S. Post Office and Customhouse
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Lewis F. Powell Jr. U.S. Courthouse in 2015
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| Location | 1000 E. Main St., Richmond, Virginia |
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| Coordinates | 37°32′15″N 77°26′6″W / 37.53750°N 77.43500°WCoordinates: 37°32′15″N 77°26′6″W / 37.53750°N 77.43500°W |
| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1858 |
| Architect | Ammi B. Young (original central building), Albert Lybrock (expansion) |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| Part of | Main Street Banking Historic District (#05000527) |
| NRHP reference # | 69000359 |
| VLR # | 127-0170 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 4, 1969 |
| Designated CP | June 01, 2005 |
| Designated VLR | November 5, 1968 |
The Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse, also known as the U.S. Post Office and Customhouse, is a historic custom house, post office and courthouse located in Richmond, Virginia. Originally constructed in 1858, it was for decades a courthouse for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. A new federal district courthouse opened in 2008, but the Powell Courthouse still houses the Fourth Circuit. The United States Congress renamed the building for Supreme Court justice Lewis F. Powell Jr., in 1993. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as U.S. Post Office and Customhouse.
The courthouse is one of only two buildings in the historic core of Richmond to survive the devastating 1865 fire that marked the evacuation of the Confederate Army during the last days of the Civil War. It is the oldest courthouse in GSA's inventory. Constructed as the U.S. Custom House, Post Office and Courthouse, the original portion of the building was completed in 1858 to designs of Ammi B. Young, then Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department. The building received additions that were completed in 1889, 1912, and 1932, all three of which hewed closely to the imposing Italianate forms that characterized the original building.
The building played a significant role in the American Civil War when the Congress of the new Confederate States of America selected Richmond as its capital. The courthouse provided offices for Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Following the conflict, the federal government reoccupied the building. Then, in 1866, the Grand Jury of the United States District Court met on the third floor and indicted Davis for treason. Davis returned to the courthouse in 1867 for a hearing, but was granted amnesty and never stood trial.
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