McCormack Federal Bldg/Post Office/Courthse
- Year
- 1933
- Style
- Art Deco
- City
- Boston, MA
The John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse at 5 Post Office Square is a 22-story, 331-foot skyscraper built between 1931 and 1933 to house federal courts, government offices, and post office operations. It replaced the 1885 U.S. Post Office and Sub-Treasury Building on the same block and was designed jointly by the Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department and the Boston firm Cram and Ferguson in the Art Deco and Moderne style. With more than 600,000 square feet of floor space, it remains one of the city's largest federal buildings.
the building
Granite and limestone cladding. The exterior is faced in granite quarried from various New England sources along with Indiana limestone, giving the tower a monumental presence over the full city block bounded by Congress, Devonshire, Water, and Milk Streets.
NSA recruiting office. Room 406 once housed the National Security Agency's Northeast Recruiting Office, which opened on November 7, 1980, under the agency's Office of Administration to scout technical recruits.
the style
The tower combines Art Deco and Moderne detailing, applied to a federal government skyscraper completed in 1933.
More on Art Decothe architect
The design was a collaboration between the Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department and the Boston architectural firm Cram and Ferguson.
significance
The building is an approved Boston Landmark (#97, designated March 20, 1998) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
nearby
- Codman Building
- International Trust Company Building
- Compton Building
- Old Corner Bookstore
- Old South Meeting House
- Second Brazer Building