UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORNATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM

Type all entries - completeapplicable sections

STATE:

Rhode IslandCOUNTY:

ProvidenceFOR NPS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMBER DATE

______

,.,.

_____________

.1COMMON:

Federal BuildingAND/OR HISTORIC:

LOCATIONSTREET AND NUMBER; . . . . . . .- .,.

Kennedy Plaza . . .CITY OR TOWN:

Providence

Rhode Island, 02903CanE COUNTY:

1114 ProvidenceCODE

007CLASSIFICATION . -

CATEGORYCheck One

OWNERSHIP.

STATUSACCESSIBLE

TO THE PUBLIC

CC

District

SiteBuilding

C StructureLXC

Public

Private

IPublic Acquisition:I C InProcess .. .

Occupied

C Unoccupied ElYes:

Restricted

C Object.

C Both ...

C Being Considered.,.

..

o Preservotion workin progress

CC

Unrestricted

N0

:

,

PRESENT USE Check One or More as Appropriate . . .

C Agricultural Governmentc:i Commercial C industriolC Educational C MilitaryC Entertainment C Museum

Park

r4. OWNER OF PROPEPTY

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u-iLI,

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-

STREET AND NUMBER:

CITY OR TOWN:

Washingtonjjr:LQCATIT.IO ::oFL±EoAwDEscplp.Tiol

COURTHOUSE. REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC

City HallSTREET AND NUMBER:

Dorrance and Washington StreeteCIT OR TOWN:

Providence

16. REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS- TITLE OF SURVEY:

DATE OF SURVEY:

DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS:

STREET AND NUMBER:

CITY OR TOWN:

C TransportationC Other Specify

Form 10.300July 969

STATE

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Private Residence

Religious

Scientific

C Comments

‘nIH ER’S NAME

United States Government General Services Administration

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- Check One -

CONDITION[j_Excellent C Goad C Fair C Deteriorated C Ruins C Unexposed

check One - - Check OneAltered C Unaltered C Moved . - Original Site

DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGtNAL if known PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

The Federal Building is located in central, downtown Providence atone end of a large open space formerly known as ExchangePlace. It wascompleted in 1903 from designs by Clark and Howe--an important localfirm which won over nine other contestants in a design competition heldby the United States Treasury Department in 1903. It exemplifies theacth,ptive nQQ-classicism of the Ecole de Beaux-Arts, whose stfle, undersponsorship &f’ the National Fine Arts Commissionin Wanhington,had become the mode for governmentalbuildings in the capital and elsewhereinthis countr at the turn of the century. It is a large rectangularfreestanding structure of four main storeys above a basementor ground floor

- and around a light court. It is five bays in width and ten in depth,faced with limestone and capped by a hipped roof of metal. It originallyhoused the United States District Court, the Post Office and the localCustoms bureau the latter two agencies no longer being in the building.

A rusticated first storey provides aplatform for the architectural rnadornment of the building on its four elevations of which the west one ri-icontains the principal entrances. The west and east fa9ades are eachgiven a "palace" treatment incorporatingall four storeys: a central -pavilion of three generousbays is projected slightly from the main ablock; above arched portals at street level and a belt course which surrounds the building, there is in this pavilion an unpedimentedtetrastyle temple front in antis, its colossal Corinthian columns three storeyshigh. The antae somewhat echo the column capitals by having deep bandsof carved acanthus leaves acrosstheir tops. Antae and columns support C

an entablature with modillioned cornicewhich runs around the entire flbuilding and supports aparapet of piert and balusters. A low balustrade - -4also runs betweenthe bases of the four columns of the temple fronts. -Between these column-bases,at second-floor level, are three French win- .dows set in enframementsof engagedDoric columns supporting moulded lin-

.

tels carrying scluptured swags and cartouches. In the very tall rectangular areas above these windows are set round-headedopeningsin which the .

windows of both third and fourth floors are included, giving a piano -nohile effect. These openings have scrolled keystones, and there arecarved swags in the spandrels. The remaining single, flanking bays ofthe west and east elevations have plain window openings with rusticatedvoussoirs at street level and. simple rectangular windows, empanelledbe-

*tween piers, on each of the three upper floor levels. The windows ofthe second and third floors are given tripartite division by metal mul-lions; those of the fourth floor are given a similar but more pronounceddivision by stone mullions. To the left and right of the three portalsof the west front are large allegorical statuary groups of stone, onpedestals. They are by J. Massey Rhind and represent national and civicvirtues and progress. .

The long sides north and south of the Federal Building are treatedin a mannerwhich, with a degree of majesty, is neverthelessnot as ornate

see Continuation Sheet.

I I * - . *- -

Form O-3OOo UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

INVENTORY- NOMINATION FORM

as that employed on the west and east façades. Here the corner hays arerepeated ahove a rusticated base, hut there are no temple fronts in thelong stretches between them. At first-floor level runs a stretch of round-arched openings, some of which were always windows and some of which havebeen entrances. The three upper floors comprise a lengthy series of bayscontained between colossal Corinthian pilasters and have tripartite windowopenings. The effect is, however, still palatial, although constrictedstreets and present traffic patterns make it difficult to stand off at asufficient distance to appreciate the intended effect.

The exterior has not had noticeable alteration or change in appearance since it was constructed, with the minor exception of the recent removal of metal canopies which sheltered former mail-loading doors on thenorth, and this can he thought of as an improvement.

The principal lobby for entrance and circulation is within the westportals and runs the width of the building. Nearly all the space behindit was once used for postal servicesbut has latterly been divided intooffices, both on the ground floor and on a mezzanine. This lobby, twenty-four feet in height, has a marble pavement and handsomegroined limestonevaulting, which was considered unusual in its time. There are other embellishments, such as carved ceiling rosettes, carved allegoriàal masks,hanging lamps, wall torchères, fine ironwork in the railing of the imposingstair. A fountain of modern composition or plastic, containing artificialgreenery, was inserted in the lobby during a redecorationundertakenbythe GeneralServices Administration in 1966, when-several movable semi-partitions or screens were also introduced there.

Upper floors of the Federal Building mainly contain, as expected,plain and functional offices, the necessarycorridors etc.--with the usualstained woodwork, frosted glass, linoleum floors and large, undrapedwindows. The very conspicuousexceptions, wherein the external eleganceofthis building is matched, are the suites devoted to the Federal Courts,consisting of one large court-room, one smaller one and a law library. Themost impressive of thethe is the large oval chamber of the Federal DistrictCourt on the third floor, set at the centre of the west front and utilisingthe arched windows of that façade. This tall room is richly panelled inoak, between fluted pilasters supporting the cornice which encircles adomed ceiling containing a stained-glass skylight. The main entrance tothis room has a handsomelycarved enframementculminating in a broken segmental pediment with dentils, carried upon consoles with foliate carvingand swags; centred within the pediment is an American eagle atop a trophyof flags, wreath and fasces. Floor spaces in this room are divided bywrought-iron railings with cappings of polished brass. Thesmaller, rec

-. See Continuation Sheet-2.

July 1969 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

Number 01i entries

7. Description.

Rhode IslandCOUNTY

Providence

Continuation Sheet-_l

FOR NPS USE ONLYENTRY NUMBER DATE

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4" -

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GPO 001.062

- - - - - I- - -*- -

-

Form 1O-300o UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE. I. -

July 1969 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE - Rhode Island - -NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTY - --

INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORMProvidence -

- FOR NPS USE ONLY

Continuation Sheet-2ENTRY NUMBER DATE

Number all entries - --

7. Description. - --

tanrular court-room is somewhat similarly treated with oak columns, pilas- - -ters and panels and has a range of ornamental plaster-work betweenpanel- - - -ling and cornice; this room, has, however, lost its skylight. The Law -

- Library ha panelling, aarving and shalvin of mahogany and poing marhia - -mantels. -- - -

Both exterior and interior of this building have always hadcareful. - -maintenance. The exterior still appearsas the architects intended it, and -interior alterations have been, necessarily and predictably, confined to re- - - -arrangementsof office and utility spaces. -

- : -

G P 0 - 90 I .0 8 2

-- - . -

-

:. thSIGNIPICANCE **** . *** .IA ..PERIOD Cl,cck One or More as Appropriate - -

-

C Pre-Columbion C 16th Century C 18th Century X 20th Century *

C 15th Century - C 17th Century - C 19th Century

SPECIFIC DATEISI It Applicable andknown l903-l9Oö I -AREAS OF SIGNI FICANCE Check One or Moro as Appropriate - - -

-Aboriginal C Education Q Political Urban Planning - -

- C Prehistor1c Engineering C Religion/Phi C Other Specify -Historic C Industry Iosophy

__________________________

-

C Agriculture Invention C Science

________________________

- -IArchitecture C Landscape C Sculpture

________________________

- - J 3FJ Art Architecture C Social/Human- - - -

- It’C Commerce C Literature itarian - - ,- 1’.

C Communications C Military C Theater

________________________

0 Conservation c Music C Transportation - - .

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE -

Clarke and Howe’s well-preserved FederalBuilding is, inside and -out, and elegant and handsae example of the Beaux-Arts style as em- - -ployed early in this century to house governmentalagencieswith the -dignity considered requisite to their status. This it would do well .

-

anywhere. However, in Providence it admirably fulfills another function--o that of being a vital architectural anchor, by mass and placing, to a-

- whole downtown area in which it also shares primacy as an aestheticI- treasure.Primacy is sharedwith the fine, facing City Hall, an opulent

-o mansardedstructure. -

The plaza upon which the Federal Building fronts is tie only size-able open space even having a little green planting in all of downtownProvidence, and since the mid-XIX-Century it-- has always been boundedby the more important and monumental of the city’s buildings. In the

--z early 1900’s this space-was enlarged when the railroad terminal was re-- built at a location more to the north of the n]Aza than, as previously, j:in its middle. This square is now chiefly boundedby the City Hall at -

the west; a cliff of tall, modern office buildings at tte south; the - fri -Lu Federal Building at its east; and the spread-out complex of the railroad ‘-P. --terminal above a grassedembankmentat the north. - - -

As an example of architectural eclecticism handled with taste anddiscretion--and such was not always the case in its era--the Federal - -:

- FBuilding may he consideredthe masterpieceof the firm of Clarke and kHowe. It was designed when Wallis E. Howe was still only in his early -thirties. In its bulk and in the scale of its exterior ornament, it.. isvery apparent that thought was given to achieving a good balance and response between this struoture and the imposing City Hall of 1873, whichis nearly on axis at the west end of the plaza. -

The Federal Building commandsadmiration and deservespreservation.Its fine qualities are more easily to be preserved,now that those agen-cies which might have caused crowdingand.,deleterious alteration have -been moved elsewhere. -

V -* -

__ ____

-

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Cady-, John Hutchins: The Civic and Architectural Development of Providence, 1636-1950 Providence, Rhode Island, 1957, p. 201.

Providence PreservationSociety: The.City: 1809-1908 ... -Providence,Rhode Island, 1971, pp. 28-30. -. - -

couNTy: - --

-

l.A III JIlt. ANts LONUI1 UIJk COOIIflINA ress LAI Ii urnz ANts LONGI rum: COOnIINA TItS

UITFINING A tItC I ANGLE LOCAl INC ‘r’,c t’I,OPtHTY 0 OCFININO THE CIZNTIII4 POINT 0!? A r’IIOt’ritTY- OF LESS THAN TFN ACRES

- CORNER - LATITuDE LONGITUDE LATITuDE LONGITuDE

Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes SecondsNW .° ‘. ° - ‘ ‘ 141° 149’ 3LrN 71° 214’ 39 -WNE ° -, . a - .- - -

SE ‘ ° ‘ C- 7 - - *

SW - P ‘ a , . - - -APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY: - - - - - - -

-- LIST ALLSTATE5 AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOuNDARIES

STATE: - - - * CODE COUNTY : -

STATE: - - -

STATE:

STATE: - - -

f1u1:F.oRMP.EP.AEONAME AND TI TLE: -

Alice H. R. Hauck, Richard B. Harrington, -Consultants- -

CITY OR TOWN:

ProvidenceSTATE CODE

Rhode Island, 02903STATE LIAISON OFFICER CERTIFICA I ION NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATION

As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na’

- tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 Public Law

89-665, 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion

in the National Register and certify that it has been

evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set

forth by the National Park Service. The recommended

level of significonce of this nomination is: - -

National State 2’ ‘Local 0 -

NaInc

Title

Date - -

-s -- -.

COUNTY:

COUNTY:

ORGANIZATION - - -

Rhode Island Historical Preservation CommissionSTREET AND NUMBER: --

State House, 90 Smith Street -

- - DATE -

- -: July 25, 1971

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ihereby-certify that this property is included in the - - I-if

National Register. . -- -u -- - -

Preservation - -

- -

-

_______________

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GPO. go_I .

Chief, tt

Date

ice of Archeology and Historic

- -

ATTEST: -

Keeper of The National Register ,

Date

II I II II I

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Rhode Island

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESCOU;T;

PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM FOR NPS USE ONLYENTRY NUMBER DATE

Typeall entries - attach to or enclosewith photograph

o COMMON: Federal Building- AND/OR HISTORIC:

STREET AND NUMBER:

Kennedy PlazaCITY OR TOWN:

ProvidenceSTA?E: CODE COUN?YI CObE

Rhode Island Providence 007HOTcIREffERENCE

I

- PHOTO CREDIT: Alice H. R. Hauck

____ ______ ________________________

DATE OF PHOTO: 1971W 4EGATIVE FILED AT:Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, State House,

:DESCRIBE VIEW, DIRECTION. ETC.

Interior of small courtroom.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM

Typeall entries - attach to or enclosewith photograph

OMMON: Fo’o1 Pa11Miic,IAN 0/OR HISTORIC:

Rhode IslandCOUNTY

ProvidenceFOR NPS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMBER J DATE

TREET AND NUMBER:

KennedyPlazaITY OR TOWN:

Providence

* ... .. .. .:Tr: I‘HOTO CREDIT: Alice H. R. HauckDATE OF PHOTO: 1971IEGATIVEFILEDAT:Rhode Island Historical k’reservatiOn I.omm1ssiOn,btate tiouse,

90 Smith Street, Providence, Rhode Island, 02903

DESCRIBE VIEW. DIRECTION. ETC

5 TATE:

Rhode Island Providence

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Mantel in law library.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Rhode Island

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESCOU

PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM FORNPS USE ONLY

Typeall entries - attach to or enclosewith photographENTRY NUMBER DATE

JL NAME’ ‘. ... .::.0 JOMMON: Federal Building- IAN00R HISTORIC:

I- jJOCATION -U STREET AND NUMBER:

KennedyPlazaCITY OR TOWN:

ProvidenceSTATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE

Rhode Island Providence 007z PHOTOREffERENCE- PHOTO CREDIT: B. Christopher Bene

DATE OF PHOTO: Octol-’er, 1971IEGATIVE FILED AT: Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission,

w State House, 90 Smith Street, Providence, Rhode Island, 02903‘EN1iF1CAflQ1’4 ." ‘ " r,DESCRIBE VIEW. DIRECTION. ETC.

Exterior seen from the south-west.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATENATIONAL PARK SERVICE Rhode Island

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESCOUNTY

ProvidencePROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY

V. Typeall entries - attach to or enclosewith photographENTRY NUMBER DATE

z [ NAME:’***

. .

0 COMMON: Federal Building- AND/OR HISTORIC:

1-

U ITREET AND NUMBER:Kennedy PlazaCITY OR TOWN:

ProvidenceSTATE: DE COUNTY: CODE

Rhode Island Providence 007.-.S.

Z LF . . .. . .- IPHOTO CREDIT: Alice H. R. Hauck

[DATE OF PHOTO: 1971LU 4EGATIVE FILED AT:RhOde Island Historical PreservationCommission, State House,

j 90 Smith Street, Providence, Rhode Island, 02903TFKAT1O -DESCRIBE VIEW. DIRECTI ON. ETC.

Doorway in U. S. District Court Room.

GEOGRAPHICAL COOROINASLatitude: l0Longitude: 71C

ömq for 9?TheAed

.i:,

I

4635

4634

50’

0

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46

004632

Form 10-301 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORJuly 1969 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

STATE

Rhode Island

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTYProvidencePROPERTY MAP FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY

* Type all entries - attach to or enclosewith p ENTRY NUMBER DATE

. NAME ... .....

..:. ...... . :*....,,

. ...........

0 LCOMMON: Federal Building- lAND/OR HISTORIC:

I-. LOtATIONSTREET AND NUM BER:

U Kennedy PlazaCITY OR TOWN:

ProvidenceSTATE: DE COUNTY: CODE

Rhode Island Providence 007EIMAP REFERENCE

SOURCE:

- U. S. GeologicalSurvey

SCALE: 1 21t,000DATE: 1957: REQUIREMENT$TO BE INCLUDED ON ALL MAPS

1. Property broundaries where required.2. North orrow.3. Latitude and longitude reference.