The Federal Building

Bellingham, Washington

HISTORY

Bellingham comes of age...

At the turn of the twentieth century, Bellingham was isolated from the main district court in Seattle. Roads were poor, and rail and steamship travel made prolonged trials inconvenient for witnesses and juries.

"The holding of Federal court here (in Bellingham) would mean the coming of quite a large number of people which would be a benefit to the hotels as well as the city in general" - Senator Addison G. Foster

Beginning in 1903 Senator Addison G. Foster began lobbying to have a federal building in Bellingham that would house a post office, customs, revenue quarters and a federal court.

The federal government purchased a sandstone hill in downtown Bellingham, but the location required major excavation of the stone outcrop, to four feet below the sidewalk. The site was chosen over one farther south, after “north side men” offered to remove the rock from the site themselves.

NORTH SIDE MEN BREAKING ROCK

The alley behind the Mount Baker Theatre has one of the last reminders of the Chuckanut sandstone outcropping that was blasted and chiseled away to make the area flat for building.

CORNERSTONE CEREMONY

Bellingham’s being chosen for a new federal building was cause for much excitement, as can be seen by the large crowd attending the cornerstone ceremony for the building, September 11, 1911.

^{The photo was taken from the corner of Canoe (today’s Commercial Street) and Magnolia Streets, looking east.}

Construction on the three-story building began in 1911 and ultimately cost $284,000, an immense amount of money for the time. Downtown Bellingham was originally a hilly landscape, with many sandstone outcrops. By 1911 these outcrops were being removed so that downtown buildings could sit at street grade.

^{View from the corner of E. Magnolia and Dock Street (today's Cornwall Avenue) of the site of the Bellingham federal building.}

THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY had been built in 1906 on top of the stone outcrop, across the alley from the future site of the federal building. The library was demolished in 1953, in part due to the inconvenient 45 stairs leading to the entry, and the hill excavated to street grade.

ARCHITECTURE

Cities celebrated being chosen for a federal building location, and little expense was spared in their design and materials. Postcards featuring the buildings were common and conveyed a city’s sense of pride.

*Federal building postcards from left to right: Bellingham, Seattle, Spokane, Walla Walla*

Federal buildings were all designed with a grand flight of stairs leading up to the main entry. However, Bellingham Postmaster Hugh Eldridge bucked the norm and recommended that the entry to the Bellingham building be set at grade to better accommodate the elderly and less able-bodied.

When the Federal Building was completed on May 1, 1913 it was thought to be the only structure of its kind in the United States with the main entrance at sidewalk level rather than at the top of a flight of stone steps.

*U.S. Treasury supervising architect James Knox Taylor.*

The first Supervising Architect of the United States, James Knox Taylor, oversaw the design of buildings throughout the nation, creating consistent design themes while allowing for architectural individuality.

Architectural details

In the beginning of the 20th Century, federal buildings in Washington State and across the nation were designed in the Renaissance Revival Style, also called the Beaux Arts style. Sophisticated proportions and space planning, monumental entrances leading to finely finished public lobbies and well-proportioned corridors that graciously welcomed citizens were key features. White marble and limestone facades were used to recreate classical and renaissance models associated with the democracies of Greek and Rome.

The CARTOUCHE was a common detail in buildings of the early 20th century. The Bellingham federal building’s cartouche consists of a raised oval panel over the main entry and contains a scale of justice, a key and Roman numerals MCMXI (1911), the year construction began. The cartouche is flanked by two fasces of justice (bundles of rods, each containing an axe) and American eagles.

A fasces is an ancient symbol of Roman authority consisting of a bundle of rods with and axe blade projecting from them, and represents a magistrate’s power and jurisdiction.

*Fasces also appear on the walls of the 2nd floor courtroom.*

The roof entableture is designed in an ornate floral and cresting wave motif.

Ornate sconces flanking the main entry are cast bronze with natural images.

Floral keystones beautify the main entryways.

A lion's head keystone greets visitors at the east entrance.

Carved scrollwork adorns the brackets on the second story window pediments.

The architectural showcase of the building’s second floor is the Bellingham Federal District Courtroom. The room was continuously used for District Court activity until the 1970s and by the time the building was acquired by the City of Bellingham, most of the room’s original architectural details remained intact. The Courtroom abounds with floral motifs and architectural detail

OCCUPANTS

WAR TIME

During times of war, the Bellingham federal building served important roles. When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, the federal building’s 3rd floor served as a Navy recruiting station, and the courtroom was transformed by Red Cross volunteers into a workroom for sewing bandages and other necessities for soldiers overseas.

*WWI Navy officers standing with Red Cross nurses*

The U.S. entered World War II in 1941 and once again the federal building was enlisted for Army and Navy recruiting. Offices were set up for both men and women, as the U.S. Armed Forces were transformed from essentially all-male to mixed-gender forces. Women were recruited as WACs (Women’s Army Corps) and WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).

During the Vietnam War the federal building became the site of many protests and peace vigils.

*Peace vigils at the Federal building. Left, 1969 and right, 2007*

PROHIBITION

In 1920 the approval of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. constitution banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors, creating a period in American history known as Prohibition. In Bellingham, federal Customs officials had their hands full with enforcement, dealing with smuggling of alcohol across the Canadian border.

IMMIGRATION

Bellingham's federal building was where new citizens were officially welcomed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Immigrations Inspector Howard Caton, shown in image, finalizes proof of citizenship for two-year old Eifi Sigrid Zorotovich in the Bellingham federal building. Eifi's father Mitchel J. Zorotovich, right, was a former U.S. WWII soldier who fought in Germany.

TODAY

*Public Works Engineering offices, 2019*

As of 2022, the federal building houses several departments and offices of the City of Bellingham, and the Post Office continues to provide a vital public service to downtown businesses, organizations and residents.

RESTORATION

A new life...

By the late 1990s, the federal government had decided to surplus the federal building and offered it to the City of Bellingham. The City accepted ownership of the building in 2004, agreeing to develop a 20-year preservation plan that would improve the building’s inadequate systems to assure access, safety, and comfort; preserve the courtroom; renovate office spaces; and restore the original post office lobby.

POST OFFICE MODERNIZED

The ornate lobby and post office had remained relatively intact until the early 1960s, when the “modernization” of the federal building’s entire ground ﬂoor began.

In the sleek modern style of the times, the mosaic marble ﬂoors were covered and high ceilings lowered. The cast bronze tellers’ windows and all the ornate architectural details were removed. Office partitions and ﬂorescent lights were installed, and by the end of the renovation very little remained of the building interior’s original architecture.

*Post office and lobby through the years, 1947, 1975, 2007.*

In 2018, the post office lobby was reconstructed using the original architectural drawings. Skilled crews recreated the original ceiling groin vaults, ornate post office service windows and the cylindrical entry vestibules.

FEDERAL BUILDING ELEVATOR

The original federal building elevator was ornate, with cast iron pilasters and entablature, and the stairway had Alaska white marble treads and risers, brass handrails and cast iron newel posts.

FIRST FEMALE ELEVATOR OPERATOR Jessie Vachon, the first female civil service operator in the United States, ran the elevator in the Bellingham federal building for 37 years.

In 1951, an automated elevator was installed and the original cage was enclosed with drywall.

Years later, the drywall would be removed from the shaft to once again expose the open, twisted-iron cage.

REVOLVING DOORS

The building’s original revolving doors were considered a hazard from the start. In 1955 these were replaced with new push-type metal doors.

In 2018, the vestibules were restored, but without revolving doors

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The City of Bellingham values its historic buildings and strives to be a good steward. Adaptive use of the Bellingham federal building has been an ongoing effort since it was acquired by the City in 2004.

The restoration, renovation and reuse of the building was made possible by the foresight and leadership of City of Bellingham Mayors Mark Asmundson and Kelli Linville; and through the expertise of SHKS Architects; Ebenal General, Inc.; Tiger Construction, Ltd.; and Faber Construction Corporation.

Restoration of the Post Office Lobby was made possible by a Washington State Historical Society Capital Heritage Grant.