May 24, 1929: Ground broken for Duluth’s Federal Building

On this day in Duluth in 1929, officials gathered for the ground-breaking ceremony for a new federal building at 515 West First Street. The building was the final piece of the plan for Duluth’s Civic Center, first envisioned in 1909 by renowned Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. James A. Wetmore, acting supervising architect of the U.S. Treasury Department, designed the new structure in keeping with Burnham’s plan and the Civic Center’s existing buildings. Unlike similar events for the county courthouse, county jail, and city hall, the ceremony was simple: no grand orations or Masonic ceremonies—the Feds simply weren’t as demonstrative in their celebrations as the Duluth citizenry had been for previous Civic Center accomplishments. Construction began shortly thereafter, with the  N. P. Severin Construction Company of Chicago overseeing the project. Construction was completed in October, 1930, at a total cost of $1,105,747. The new structure replaced the 1894 Federal Building and Post Office, but that historic landmark was left in the middle of of the Civic Center for another eight years before it was demolished. Today the 1929 structure is called the Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building. Read a complete history of the 1929 building here and the 1894 building here.

The Duluth Federal Building, Post Office & Customs House captured on film by by noted Duluth photographer Hugh McKenzie some time in the early 1930s. (Image: Library of Congress)