Joseph F. Weis, Jr. United States Courthouse
- Architect
- Trowbridge & Livingston
- Style
- Beaux-Arts
- City
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Collection
- steel city beaux-arts
The Joseph F. Weis, Jr. U.S. Courthouse is a Beaux-Arts federal building in downtown Pittsburgh, known until 2015 as the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse-Pittsburgh. As Pittsburgh's steel industry boomed and its population grew, Pittsburgh-born Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon helped secure federal funds for a building meant to represent the city's rise to national economic prominence. It was designed by the New York firm Trowbridge & Livingston under Supervising Architect of the Treasury James A. Wetmore, with construction beginning in 1931.
the building
Built over the rail line. The courthouse was constructed directly over an existing rail line so that mail could move between trains and the building without ever being hauled through the street.
A stalled start. Construction began in 1931 but stopped almost immediately when a labor dispute broke out; work did not resume until the strike ended on June 8, 1932.
the style
The Beaux-Arts design was meant to give the federal government's Pittsburgh presence the monumental bearing of a city that had arrived on the national stage, backed by Andrew Mellon's push to fund it.
More on Beaux-Artsthe architect
Trowbridge & Livingston, a New York architecture firm, designed the courthouse under the direction of James A. Wetmore, the Treasury Department's Supervising Architect.
significance
The building served for decades as the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse-Pittsburgh before being renamed for federal judge Joseph F. Weis, Jr. in 2015. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
nearby
- Gulf Tower
- Byrnes & Kiefer Building
- Ewart Building
- BNY Mellon Center
- Union Trust Building
- Chatham Center