U.S. Post Office and Federal Building (Wichita, Kansas)
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US Post Office and Federal Building-Wichita
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U.S. Courthouse
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| Location | 401 N. Market, Wichita, Kansas |
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| Coordinates | 37°41′30″N 97°20′18″W / 37.69167°N 97.33833°WCoordinates: 37°41′30″N 97°20′18″W / 37.69167°N 97.33833°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1936 |
| Architect | Haines, Richard; Et al. |
| Architectural style | Moderne |
| MPS | Kansas Post Offices with Artwork, 1936--1942 MPS |
| NRHP Reference # | 89000792 |
| Added to NRHP | July 18, 1989 |
The U.S. Courthouse, Wichita, Kansas is a historic post office, courthouse, and Federal office building located at Wichita in Sedgwick County, Kansas. It is a courthouse for the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.
The U.S. Courthouse in Wichita, originally the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, is distinguished by its modern facade and Depression-era murals. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of a group of Kansas Post Offices noted for their artwork. The U.S. Courthouse demonstrates a skillful blending of Art Deco and classical influences; it retains the symmetry and proportions of Classical architecture while modernizing exterior ornamentation. It is representative of the large and cohesive body of architectural work by Louis A. Simon, who was responsible for the design of government buildings under Supervising Architect of the Treasury James A. Wetmore. The building was constructed between August 1930 and April 1932 at a cost of $1.2 million.
As a courthouse and post office, the building was significant in the development of the city of Wichita. From the time of the earliest settlement, the Wichita Post Office was a focal point of the community, and when the location of the post office shifted, the downtown commercial area grew up around it. When the site for the new U.S. Courthouse, which was to include the new post office, was selected at 401 North Market Street, it was only a few blocks from the site of Wichita's original post office in the Durfee Ranch Store. The new building provided an anchor for development and helped draw businesses north along Main Street from Douglas Avenue.
Modernistic for its time, the U.S. Courthouse is a U-shaped, flat-roofed, steel-framed building clad in beige Bedford limestone. The building is 224 feet by 157 feet, and is three levels in height, with a fourth level across the south elevation, and a fifth level at the towers of the east and west corners. While the receding walls of the towers stress the vertical, the long facades of the building express an overall horizontal emphasis. All windows are in slightly recessed planes, with pilasters between openings. The even fenestration pattern and the rusticated first story of the building are common themes in classically inspired architecture. The main entrances in the towers on the south elevation have heavy molded surrounds, ornamental reveals, and shelf heads. Above the shelf are two winged limestone lions holding a plaque.
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