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C. Bascom Slemp Federal Building

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1912, James Knox Taylor, Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury. 322 Wood Ave.
  • (Photograph by Tim Buchman)

A fine example of Renaissance Revival, this imposing post office and courthouse is named for a local U.S. congressman and private secretary to President Calvin Coolidge. Above a rusticated first story are two stories of diminishing height that are clad in smooth stone veneer. A low hipped roof with a deep overhang features an unusual combination of simulated rafter tails and scroll brackets. Accenting the front is a one-story three-bay portico with paired Doric columns supporting a full entablature and a heavy balustrade. Taylor's affinity for classicism ensured a strong national image of strength and monumentality in the numerous federal buildings designed under his tenure as supervising architect.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Anne Carter Lee
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Citation

Anne Carter Lee, "C. Bascom Slemp Federal Building", [Big Stone Gap, Virginia], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/VA-02-WI15.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Virginia vol 2

Buildings of Virginia: Valley, Piedmont, Southside, and Southwest, Anne Carter Lee and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2015, 509-509.

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