Gene Snyder United States Courthouse
Encyclopedia
The Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse and Custom House, also known as United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House, is a historic courthouse
, custom house
, and post office
located at Louisville
in Jefferson County, Kentucky
. It is the courthouse for the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
under the "United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House" name.
of the U.S. Treasury Department James A. Wetmore
.
The building was among the first recipients of artwork commissioned by the Treasury Relief Art Project - a program under the Public Works Act
(PWA) that employed painters and sculptors to incorporate art within the interiors of federal buildings nationwide. In 1935, the PWA funded artist Frank Weathers Long, a Kentucky native, to paint ten murals depicting regional themes of commerce, agriculture, and sport. In 1936, with a growing need for more offices and courtrooms, the PWA also funded the addition of the sixth floor.
In 1986, the building was renamed in honor of Marion Gene Snyder
. Born in Louisville in 1928, Snyder was a prominent figure in Kentucky politics, serving several public offices, including U.S. Congressional Representative from 1963–65 and 1967-87.
In 1986, the Post Office moved out, and Congress appropriated funds for a four-year renovation project to modernize the interiors and restore the key historic spaces on the first and second floors. As a result of the project, the building received numerous stewardship awards, including the 1997/98 and 1998/99 Office Building of the Year, Historic Building Category from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA); BOMA's 1999/2000 International Award for Government Building of the Year, Historic Building Category; and the 2001 Modernization Project award from Buildings Magazine. In 1999, the Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse and Custom House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
.
, a style that federal government architects embraced during the early twentieth century as a method of symbolizing democratic ideals of government and power. More specifically, the building was inspired by the architecture of the U.S. Treasury Department Building in Washington, DC, designed a century earlier. Both buildings prominently feature a limestone facade composed of a long colonnade of tall, colossal columns raised on a ground-story base to an imposing and impressive effect. Unlike the Treasury Building, the Courthouse was constructed not of solid masonry, but of modern materials, including concrete and steel columns and beams, with Bedford limestone for the exterior veneer.
Encompassing an entire city block, the rectangular building rises six stories (the fifth floor is concealed on the exterior behind the limestone entablature). The facade (south elevation) facing Broadway Street features a row of 18 engaged Corinthian columns with fluted shafts poised upon a rusticated base of arched windows aligned with the fenestration above. The colonnade is framed at each end by projecting pavilions, each with four columns and crowning pediments. The secondary east and west elevations are composed of 12 colossal Corinthian columns to match those of the facade. A continuous limestone entablature, composed of an architrave, frieze, dentil molding, and cornice, and a balustraded parapet cap the south, east, and west elevations. Above this, the unadorned smooth stone walls of the sixth story are subordinate to the articulated rhythm of the lower stories. The two primary entrances are recessed within the tripartite arches at the ends of the facade, and are accessed by stairs flanked by original bronze and glass light standards with claw feet and fluted columns. The glass and bronze doors are original, and retain their decorative surrounds and elliptical transoms containing bronze grilles.
The building's interior is primarily composed of individual offices connected by central corridors, with the exception of the main lobby on the first floor. Originally designed to provide space for post office patrons, the lobby is a grand space, with an arcade extending the length of the building. The lobby is finely detailed with original pink, green, and beige marble flooring with geometric insets, marble veneer for the walls and pilasters, and a pair of marble Doric order
columns at each end. Paintings by Frank Weathers Long embellish the lobby walls, with murals titled Stock Farming and Agriculture in the east lobby and Ohio River Traffic and Coal Mining in the west lobby.
The two main stairwells feature marble staircases with wrought-iron balusters and floral designs inset into wood handrails. Adjacent elevators retain their original bronze doors, displaying decorative medallions and Greek fretwork. Above the elevator doors are bronze acanthus-leaf moldings and lunettes with murals depicting postal delivery themes, also painted by Long.
The second floor includes two original federal courtrooms designed with coffered wood ceilings, marble wainscoting, decorative pilasters, and arched windows.
The law library features elegant details including Doric fluted, wood pilasters and an original plaster ceiling decorated with Greek fret band and wave molding.
From 1986-90, GSA launched an extensive renovation project. The office spaces were remodeled with modern amenities and contemporary interior design, including new floor and wall finishes. At the same time, original finishes and fixtures in the historic courtrooms and lobbies were rehabilitated and restored to their 1932 condition.
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
, custom house
Custom House
A custom house or customs house was a building housing the offices for the government officials who processed the paperwork for the import and export of goods into and out of a country. Customs officials also collected customs duty on imported goods....
, and post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
located at Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
in Jefferson County, Kentucky
Jefferson County, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 693,604 people, 287,012 households, and 183,113 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 305,835 housing units at an average density of...
. It is the courthouse for the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
The United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky is the federal district court for the western part of the state of Kentucky....
. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
under the "United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House" name.
Building history
Construction of the Post Office, Court House and Custom House, as it was known historically, came at the end of a prosperous decade for the city of Louisville. The largest city in Kentucky, Louisville played a major role in the regional manufacturing and shipping industries, fostering an increasing population and urban development. New building projects highlighted the city's growth and prosperity, and the planned construction of the new federal building was another indication of Louisville's rising prominence. The new federal building was constructed from 1931–32, under the Supervising ArchitectOffice of the Supervising Architect
The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939....
of the U.S. Treasury Department James A. Wetmore
James A. Wetmore
James A. Wetmore was an American lawyer and administrator, best known as the Acting Supervising Architect of the U.S. Office of the Supervising Architect from 1915 through 1933. Wetmore is frequently and incorrectly described as the "architect" of the many federal buildings that bear his...
.
The building was among the first recipients of artwork commissioned by the Treasury Relief Art Project - a program under the Public Works Act
Public Works Administration
The Public Works Administration , part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933 in response to the Great Depression...
(PWA) that employed painters and sculptors to incorporate art within the interiors of federal buildings nationwide. In 1935, the PWA funded artist Frank Weathers Long, a Kentucky native, to paint ten murals depicting regional themes of commerce, agriculture, and sport. In 1936, with a growing need for more offices and courtrooms, the PWA also funded the addition of the sixth floor.
In 1986, the building was renamed in honor of Marion Gene Snyder
Gene Snyder
Marion Eugene Snyder was an American politician elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives from two different districts in Kentucky....
. Born in Louisville in 1928, Snyder was a prominent figure in Kentucky politics, serving several public offices, including U.S. Congressional Representative from 1963–65 and 1967-87.
In 1986, the Post Office moved out, and Congress appropriated funds for a four-year renovation project to modernize the interiors and restore the key historic spaces on the first and second floors. As a result of the project, the building received numerous stewardship awards, including the 1997/98 and 1998/99 Office Building of the Year, Historic Building Category from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA); BOMA's 1999/2000 International Award for Government Building of the Year, Historic Building Category; and the 2001 Modernization Project award from Buildings Magazine. In 1999, the Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse and Custom House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Architecture
The Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse and Custom House is an excellent example of Classical Revival architectureNeoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
, a style that federal government architects embraced during the early twentieth century as a method of symbolizing democratic ideals of government and power. More specifically, the building was inspired by the architecture of the U.S. Treasury Department Building in Washington, DC, designed a century earlier. Both buildings prominently feature a limestone facade composed of a long colonnade of tall, colossal columns raised on a ground-story base to an imposing and impressive effect. Unlike the Treasury Building, the Courthouse was constructed not of solid masonry, but of modern materials, including concrete and steel columns and beams, with Bedford limestone for the exterior veneer.
Encompassing an entire city block, the rectangular building rises six stories (the fifth floor is concealed on the exterior behind the limestone entablature). The facade (south elevation) facing Broadway Street features a row of 18 engaged Corinthian columns with fluted shafts poised upon a rusticated base of arched windows aligned with the fenestration above. The colonnade is framed at each end by projecting pavilions, each with four columns and crowning pediments. The secondary east and west elevations are composed of 12 colossal Corinthian columns to match those of the facade. A continuous limestone entablature, composed of an architrave, frieze, dentil molding, and cornice, and a balustraded parapet cap the south, east, and west elevations. Above this, the unadorned smooth stone walls of the sixth story are subordinate to the articulated rhythm of the lower stories. The two primary entrances are recessed within the tripartite arches at the ends of the facade, and are accessed by stairs flanked by original bronze and glass light standards with claw feet and fluted columns. The glass and bronze doors are original, and retain their decorative surrounds and elliptical transoms containing bronze grilles.
The building's interior is primarily composed of individual offices connected by central corridors, with the exception of the main lobby on the first floor. Originally designed to provide space for post office patrons, the lobby is a grand space, with an arcade extending the length of the building. The lobby is finely detailed with original pink, green, and beige marble flooring with geometric insets, marble veneer for the walls and pilasters, and a pair of marble Doric order
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
columns at each end. Paintings by Frank Weathers Long embellish the lobby walls, with murals titled Stock Farming and Agriculture in the east lobby and Ohio River Traffic and Coal Mining in the west lobby.
The two main stairwells feature marble staircases with wrought-iron balusters and floral designs inset into wood handrails. Adjacent elevators retain their original bronze doors, displaying decorative medallions and Greek fretwork. Above the elevator doors are bronze acanthus-leaf moldings and lunettes with murals depicting postal delivery themes, also painted by Long.
The second floor includes two original federal courtrooms designed with coffered wood ceilings, marble wainscoting, decorative pilasters, and arched windows.
The law library features elegant details including Doric fluted, wood pilasters and an original plaster ceiling decorated with Greek fret band and wave molding.
From 1986-90, GSA launched an extensive renovation project. The office spaces were remodeled with modern amenities and contemporary interior design, including new floor and wall finishes. At the same time, original finishes and fixtures in the historic courtrooms and lobbies were rehabilitated and restored to their 1932 condition.
Significant events
- 1931-32: The U.S. Courthouse is constructed.
- 1935-37: Artist Frank Weathers Long paints ten murals for the lobbies.
- 1936: A sixth floor is added for more offices and courtrooms.
- 1950: The interior is renovated.
- 1958: The sixth story is damaged by fire, prompting additional renovations.
- 1986-90: The post office moves out. The offices undergo extensive modernization and the key historic interiors are restored. The U.S. Courthouse is named in honor of Congressman Marion Gene Snyder.
- 1999: The building is listed in the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Building facts
- Architect: James A. Wetmore
- Construction Dates: 1931-32; 1936
- Landmark Status: Listed in the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
- Location: 601 West Broadway
- Architectural Style: Classical Revival
- Primary Materials: Bedford limestone over concrete and steel
- Prominent Features: Monumental pavilions and Corinthian colonnade; PWA murals