Federal Building

Post Office and Courthouse

Serving as both Kalamazoo’s second post office and later, the United States Western District Federal Court facilities, the Classical Moderne-style structure at 410 W. Michigan Avenue was completed in 1939, and later added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. The cost of the building was paid by New Deal funds. The building was the lone post office in the city until the Miller Road Branch processing facility was built in 1959. In the early 1960s, the building was renovated to account for the switch from its original post office operations to that of court proceedings and office space. The architects involved with the design were Louis Simon (Supervising Architect of the Treasury), Rockwell Leroy (local), Manuel M. Newlander (local), and George D. Mason (Detroit).

“The main block of the rectangular building is a single story, while a small utilitarian section at the rear is a story plus mezzanine. The federal government building is a reinforced concrete bearing wall structure with interior framing of steel and reinforced concrete floor slabs and is faced with Kasota limestone and brick. Like many government and civic buildings of the period, it reflects the Classical Moderne architectural style. Two entrances located near the ends of the West Michigan Avenue façade have metal work that incorporates Art Deco-inspired forms and are surmounted by panels with bas-relief eagles. Classical elements include tall window openings separated by fluted piers supporting a parapet wall.”

—from the NRHP nomination form

Written by Ryan Gage, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, June 2024