Federal Building (City-County Administration Building)
Inscription
Emphasizing balance, symmetry, and restraint, the Renaissance Revival style organizes large buildings into horizontal layers, with each floor becoming increasingly more refined. Designed by James Knox Taylor, the Federal Building achieves this effect through the use of rusticated ashlar on the first floor.
An extended belt course separates the upper floors, which are faced with smooth coursed sandstone. Ornate moldings and Corinthian capitals accent the recessed arched windows. Reinforcing the aura of refinement, a diamond-shaped, red, stone tile frieze rests below the wide, overhanging eave, decorated with heavy timber modillions.
The 1904 building’s traditional exterior masks a steel frame, the construction technique behind the modern skyscraper. On its opening, the building housed the federal court, U.S. Marshals Service, and post office. Two prominent, but unadorned side wings and a rear addition built in 1931 reflect the expanding role of the federal government.
In 1978 the City of Helena and Lewis and Clark County jointly acquired the building, which remains an important center of government.
Location
Sources
More markers in Lewis & Clark
Forestvale Cemetery
Helena, MT
In 1889, the year Montana became a state, the growing city of Helena realized its need for a cemetery in addition to the three sponsored...
First National Bank - Securities Building
Helena, MT
This magnificent structure was the second home of Montana Territory’s first bank, chartered in 1866.
C.B. Power Residence
Helena, MT
The home of territorial Governor Benjamin Potts sat on this property from the 1870s until this grand residence was built for prominent...
Henry Sieben Home
Helena, MT
Henry Sieben came to Montana a seventeen-year-old uneducated orphan and rose to pioneer Montana’s livestock industry.
Lewis and Clark County Jail
Helena, MT
Masterful stonework of local granite in the Romanesque style creates a somber effect in this 1890 institution.