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United States Post Office and Federal Building

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1887–1890. 25 N. 7th St.

As the use of the Romanesque Revival style developed on into the 1890s and later, the general tendency was to turn away increasingly from French examples and to look to Italy. This predilection for things Italian was bound up with the popularity of Italy as a place to visit and with people's willingness to accept the authority of the classical tradition. The United States Post Office and Federal Building in Keokuk reveals some holdovers of the Richardsonian Romanesque, particularly in the arcade on the main floor. The most assertive Italian feature of this stone, brick, and terracotta building is the seven-story campanile attached at the corner. In a characteristic Italian fashion, it is layered with repeated entablatures and cornices, and its top level is an open arched loggia.

Writing Credits

Author: 
David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim
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Data

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Citation

David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim, "United States Post Office and Federal Building", [Keokuk, Iowa], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/IA-01-ME257.

Print Source

Buildings of Iowa, David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, 110-110.

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