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full basement, and a service penthouse. The basement and ground floors form a rusticated plinth with a base of Texas Pink granite and recessed joints in the limestone ground floor walls. On the south side, three arched openings penetrate this plinth, expressing depth and serving as the main entry to the building. Limestone walls in running bond pattern clad floors two, three, and four, where windows reveal the presence of each level. The east and west sides of this massive intermediate section of the building are articulated by the projection of the three outer bays at either end and by the presence of Doric pilasters between the seven central bays. Seven Tuscan pilasters likewise march across this portion of the north facade, while on the south elevation four Ionic columns extend upward from the plinth to a limestone entablature that wraps the building at the level of the fifth floor. Above the cornice on the west, north, and east sides, the building steps back considerably from the street facade. On the south, or front, side, this narrower fifth floor remains in plane with the street facade. In addition the fifth floor is capped by a service penthouse at the south end. This means that roughly one third of the height of the main facade exists above the cornice, affording it a much greater prominence than the other facades. The extra mass above the cornice, unusual in a Beaux Arts design, is inscribed with the building's name and is banded with a repeating Art Deco relief pattern in the stone.
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purposes for which they were intended. Though modifications to the postal screen walls were made twice within eight years of construction, the building did not undergo significant change until new air conditioning, plaster soffits, and suspended fluorescent fixtures were added to judicial rooms in 1957. The following year a conveyor areaway and stair were added leading to the basement on the
Arkansas side. The 1970s brought more changes to the postal screen walls, as well as the addition of air conditioning equipment and ductwork with suspended acoustic tile ceilings to the offices on floors two through five. It is critical to the life of the building that its current functions be maintained.
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but effective light court. Two large double-height courtrooms occupy the north end of the third and fourth floors and remain close to original condition. Many of the perimeter spaces have suffered a loss of volume and character from the installation of suspended acoustical tile ceilings. New gypsum board partitions have intruded into the second and fifth floor offices, while one third of the fifth floor corridors have been overtaken as work space.
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much of its original character. Those areas borrowed from the lobby for adjacent postal work rooms continue to exhibit the original plaster ceilings and wood wainscots. Ancillary postal spaces on the building's west side best exhibit the original wood trim, plaster ceilings, and door and transom treatment, though these features can be found in smaller quantities elsewhere in the building.
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and
Arkansas. Located between Fifth and Sixth Streets, the federal building ensures its pivotal presence by occupying the sole site in the center of State Line Avenue. By straddling the boundary between two states, the building uniquely evinces its federal nature and function; no other federal building in the country is sited in two states.
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The elevator lobbies on all floors remain largely intact. Although the postal lobby, located immediately beyond the first floor elevator lobby, has undergone repeated modifications since construction, including the introduction of an inappropriate post office box "hut" and customer corral, it retains
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With exceptions, the original plan strategies are clearly evident in the building today. The second through fifth floors are for the most part organized as a series of perimeter offices opening into a ring of corridors which in turn surround a core consisting of restrooms, service spaces, and a small
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Since its construction in 1931, the United States Post Office and
Courthouse has remained the most prominent structure in Texarkana, due in no small measure to its location. The regularity of the downtown street grid is interrupted by the north–south path of State Line Avenue, which separates Texas
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features betray its date of construction, the U.S. Post Office and
Courthouse in Texarkana is steadfastly Beaux Arts in form and organization. Symmetrical with respect to the state line, the gray Arkansas Limestone building is a rectangular steel and concrete structure composed of five stories, a
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No large-scale occupancy relocations have occurred and the building has retained most of its original functions, maintaining the stability of its connection with the community. The first floor post office, third floor courtrooms and judicial spaces, as well as many of the offices, still serve the
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At least twelve buildings, including the original U.S. Post Office and
Courthouse and the Central Christian Church, were demolished or relocated to accommodate this new federal building, which significantly altered the street pattern.
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The first courthouse built on this location was completed in 1892, serving as a courthouse until 1911, when it was succeeded by the erection of a separate courthouse entirely in Texas. The Texas-only courthouse later became the
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the acting supervising architect for the
Treasury Department. R. O. Jameson prepared the original structural engineering drawings; R. F. Taylor was the mechanical engineer.
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The 1888 Texarkana courthouse and post office, razed in 1930 to make way for the new building
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General
Services Administration page on the United States Post Office and Courthouse
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Post office buildings on the
National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas
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Post office buildings on the
National Register of Historic Places in Texas
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National
Register of Historic Places listings in Miller County, Arkansas
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National Register of Historic Places listings in Bowie County, Texas
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Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas
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United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
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Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas
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National Register of Historic Places in Miller County, Arkansas
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United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
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of Chicago, were responsible for the building's design, with
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National Register of Historic Places in Bowie County, Texas
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The building was built in 1933 and was listed on the
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336:Texarkana U.S. Post Office and Federal Building
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489:National Register of Historic Places portal
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526:List of United States federal courthouses
340:Texarkana U.S. Post Office and Courthouse
35:U.S. National Register of Historic Places
644:Federal courthouses in the United States
332:United States Post Office and Courthouse
629:Texarkana US Post Office and Courthouse
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61:U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in 2006
27:Texarkana US Post Office and Courthouse
684:Government buildings completed in 1933
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559:National Register of Historic Places
375:National Register of Historic Places
729:Beaux-Arts architecture in Arkansas
608:from websites or documents of the
531:List of United States post offices
402:of Texarkana, in association with
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719:Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks
734:Beaux-Arts architecture in Texas
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604: This article incorporates
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610:General Services Administration
669:Post office buildings in Texas
404:Perkins, Chatten & Hammond
383:Texarkana Regional Arts Center
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258:Perkins, Chatten & Hammond
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168:Show map of the United States
159:US Post Office and Courthouse
123:US Post Office and Courthouse
87:US Post Office and Courthouse
744:1933 establishments in Texas
16:United States historic place
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400:Witt, Seibert & Halsey
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426:Architectural description
282:NRHP reference
165:Location in United States
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272:Architectural style
234:1.4 acres (0.57 ha)
659:Courthouses in Arkansas
606:public domain material
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631:at Wikimedia Commons
564:National Park Service
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215:33.42500°N 94.04278°W
664:Courthouses in Texas
461:United States portal
321:Designated RTHL
99:Show map of Arkansas
674:Texarkana, Arkansas
566:. November 2, 2013.
220:33.42500; -94.04278
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188:Texarkana, Arkansas
430:Though occasional
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627:Media related to
344:State Line Avenue
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308:Significant dates
135:Show map of Texas
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679:Texarkana, Texas
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360:courthouse
358:. It is a
295:RTHL
276:Beaux Arts
203:33°25′30″N
724:Texarkana
377:in 2000.
348:Texarkana
254:Architect
206:94°2′34″W
447:See also
432:Art Deco
366:and the
352:Arkansas
289:00000245
178:Location
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362:of the
338:and as
244: (
181:500 N.
356:Texas
239:Built
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242:1933
231:Area
346:in
297:No.
284:No.
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