Pocatello Federal Building and Post Office
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Old Federal Building
1914–1916, Frank H. Paradice, 150 S. Arthur Ave.
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(Photograph by D. Nels Reese)
Erected in 1914–1916, the former Pocatello Federal Building and Post Office was the first and only government building in the historic district. It was designed by Frank H. Paradice, an architect trained in Chicago who had recently relocated to Pocatello and was appointed to this commission by Oscar Wenderoth, Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury. Wenderoth, who had worked for Carrère and Hastings before joining the Treasury, departed with tradition in hiring a local architect for this project. Wenderoth’s predecessor, James Knox Taylor, famously kept strict control of the more than 1,000 federal buildings he supervised during his fifteen-year tenure at the Treasury. Continuing the model of classicism set by the town’s 1907 Carnegie library, Paradice designed a reserved palazzo of an office building of buff brick with terra-cotta trim. Though no longer housing federal offices, the building remains in good condition and is still regarded as a local landmark.
References
Hart, Arthur A., “Pocatello Federal Building,” Bannock County, Idaho. National Register of Historic Places Inventory–Nomination Form, 1977. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.
Writing Credits
Coordinator:
Anne L. Marshall
Wendy R. McClure
Phillip G. Mead
D. Nels Reese
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