Stop 23: Federal Courthouse Building – 655 1st Avenue N. (Contributing)
[sc_embed_player fileurl=”https://fargounderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/23-655-1st-Ave-N.mp3″]
This Neo-Classical 1929 building is constructed of dressed stone, with a two-story arcade of fluted Ionic columns between the second- and third- story windows. Note the plain stone frieze, cornice and balustraded parapet.
Built for $600,000, it served as both post office and courthouse. (The first federal judge after North Dakota achieved statehood in 1886 was Alfred Delavan Thomas, who served for seven years until he died in 1893.)
The first settlers in Fargo had to go to Moorhead for their mail. When early Fargo residents eventually received their own post office, it was established in a grocery store. The post office was housed at the courthouse building from 1929 until 1969, when a new post office was constructed at 657 2nd Ave. N.
The large courthouse addition (Quentin Burdick Federal Courthouse) to the west of the building was constructed in 1996. It more than doubled the size of the original building and allowed the federal functions it houses to remain in the downtown area.