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The Courthouse

by David G. Schwartz

The Courthouse

Las Vegas, with the notable exception of Caesars Palace, is not known for its neo-classical architecture. But one of the city’s most storied buildings, soon to see new life and a new mission, is a period gem. The Post Office Building at 301 E. Stewart St.—right behind the hulk of the shuttered Lady Luck—is a true Las Vegas icon.

Officially known as the United States Post Office and Court House, the building opened after two years of construction on November 27, 1933, just in time for the rush of Christmas mailings. The building process was anything but straight and narrow—construction was halted after a few months because of difficulties and “improprieties” by the contractor. After a delay, work resumed with a new contractor and was finished without further incident, locals felt that they’d gotten their money’s worth: the $300,000 cost of the new building was funded by the federal government.

The federal government built the post office for local and national reasons. Las Vegas boosters had long been urging the U.S. government to build a grand edifice downtown, and as the population swelled with the impending construction of the Hoover Dam, lobbying efforts reached fever pitch. Luckily, the Hoover administration had already begun a nationwide building program—accelerated as the Great Depression started—that sought to build finely-proportioned, serious-looking monuments to the national spirit.

The architect of record, James A. Wetmore, was the Acting Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department. He designed federal buildings in cities such as Utica, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Modesto, California, and several other customs houses and courthouses. It has been suggested that his successor as superintendant, Louis A. Simon, actually planned the building, but in any event the post office conformed to the national federal building trend: solid, dignified and functional.

The building contained both the city’s main post office and a federal courthouse, though with the construction of a new federal building in 1967 the building’s importance was somewhat diminished.

n 2002, as its use as a functioning post office was coming to an end, the federal government handed the post office over to the city, with the specific intent that it be preserved and used for a museum or cultural center.

Today, plans are continuing for the post office’s rebirth. A center dedicated to organized crime and law enforcement—the Mob Museum—is currently in development. Whatever the future brings, the post office is sure to remain a Las Vegas landmark.

SOURCE: Manis Collection, UNLV Special Collections

David G. Schwartz an Atlantic City native and the director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He is the author of Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling. His web site can be viewed at www.dieiscast.com.