U.S. Land Port of Entry - Ambrose, Ambrose, ND

Location: 10935 ND-42, Ambrose, ND 58833

The Ambrose Port of Entry was included in the Multiple Property Submission for U.S. Border Inspection Stations and Associated Points of Entry, States Bordering Canada and Mexico (Multiple Property Submission MPS). As demonstrated in the Description section of this registration form, the Ambrose Land Port of Entry retains all aspects of integrity and meets the registration requirements in the MPS to be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A and C, and at the state level of significance, period of significance 1932. It retains all of its original program elements, and well demonstrates the historic characteristics of Border Station MPS Property Type Number 3: 11/2 story office with garage wings and separate living quarters.

The various elements of the Ambrose program, including the primary building, the porte-cochere, and the two attached garage wings, are original and were constructed in 1932. The total building program remains completely intact, and presents an expressive example of the Colonial Revival design style. Upon the primary unit and its wings, this Colonial Revival detailing makes itself present through the combination of: a strongly symmetrical massing featuring a primary unit backed by a centered chimney and flanked by lower wings; strong symmetrical massing in the front elevation including paired and small-pane multi-glazed wood frame double hung windows on either side of a centered entry program; odd-numbered ranking across the front elevation; Tuscan influenced steel pipe columns; ogee style cornice and gable molding with gable returns at the gable ends; a Georgian inspired motif of small rectangular panes above the main entry; Flemish Course brick veneer; roof balustrades; and gauged brick jack molding with keystone above windows and main entry.

Because of the rural, if not isolated locations of many of the border stations, the main port buildings often included living quarters, either within the primary building or as standalone residences. Originally located to the north and south of the Ambrose port were two identical, freestanding T-plan, one story, side-gabled residences clad in painted wood clapboard. These structures were also of the Colonial Revival design style. The features that associated them to the Colonial Revival style include: small-pane wood frame double hung windows in a shared ranking across the entirety of all four elevations; ogee cornice and gable molding with gable returns, and framed lunette windows at the side elevations. The Colonial Revival detailing upon the residences were simple, and conveyed the utilitarian function of the residence while still conveying the Colonial Revival design style itself. The two residences were demolished in 2008.

The renderings for the Ambrose Land Port of Entry can be found at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The primary building, as currently extant, possesses many features originally depicted in the front elevation rendering. These include the paired wood frame, multi-glazed double hung windows at the front elevation, original porte-cochere with roof baluster railing, hipped gabled symmetrically placed 4-bay garage wings, and a centered chimney. Though the rendering for the detached residences was relatively different than the built structures, they did appear original and unaltered at the time of their disposal and demolition, and may have been built from a different plan, which was not wholly uncommon regarding the ports of entry and their associated buildings.

The Ambrose Land Port of Entry is earlier than most of the ports cited in the Multiple Property Submission. At the time of it completion in 1932, the Acting Supervising Architect of the Treasury was James A. Wetmore, who held the position from 1915 to 1933, and whose signature is present on the Ambrose renderings. Wetmore however, had no formal architectural training, and directing Wetmore’s office during this period was Louis A. Simon, who had worked with the office continually since 1896.

In 1933, Simon became the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, a post he held until 1939. During Simon’s tenure, the Department of the Treasury was the largest architectural office in the United States, with over 700 million dollars worth of various Post Offices, Border Checkpoints, Custom Houses, and other Federal buildings. The construction of United States border stations, inspection stations, and customs and immigration inspection stations was approved by Legislation under the Act of June 25, 1910. The spate of Public Works Administration (PWA) era of construction, and the construction of this particular border station, initially resulted from the Public Buildings Act of 1926, a Congressional enabling act that doubled the number of U.S Federal buildings in existence.

The Ambrose Inspection Station evolved from the contexts of Prohibition (1919-1933), the increased popularization of automobile travel, and the Public Works Administration that developed out of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Ambrose Inspection Station projects an iconographic image of American architecture at the international border. It features the Colonial Revival design system often used for Governmental buildings during this time; one that was consciously associated to the American heritage and American past since the 1876 Centennial celebration which triggered a desire for an understanding of American architectural lineage.

Significance within the related Multiple Property Submission

“Within historic context no. 1, U.S. Border Stations, History and Function, the U.S. Border Inspection Stations (Land Ports of Entry) designed from 1930-1939 and constructed from 1931-1943, are associated with a series of important events in United States history that would qualify them for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A. :

• The passage of the Volstead Act and the ratification of the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages between 1919 and 1933, that led to increased smuggling across international boundaries
• Enactment of the Keyes-Elliot Public Buildings Act of 1926 that funded construction of U.S. Government Buildings in many states
• The increase in public mobility from the popularity and affordability of the automobile in the 1920s, that changed the volume of traffic entering the U.S. from water ports-of-entry to land border crossings.

Within historic context no. 2, U.S. Post Offices, Courthouses, Federal Buildings and other government buildings designed and constructed by the Treasury Department, 1864-1939, and historic context no. 3, U.S. Border Stations, Inspection Stations, and Customs and Immigration Inspection Stations, U.S. Borders with Canada and Mexico, 1931-1943, U.S. Border Inspection Stations represent an important and distinguishable property type related by function, location, chronological era, and design characteristics that would qualify them for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C. The common function was that the buildings were used as U.S. Border Stations, containing the functions of inspection, customs, immigration, or quarantine. The common location was that the stations were along the U.S. international boundaries with Canada and Mexico, or a major port of entry near the international boundary. The chronological era was quite narrow, 1930-1940 for design during the era of the Public Works Administration and 1931 to 1943 for construction. The common design was based on a series of five basic plans developed and designed by the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, that varied according to the specific size and function of the property.

Designs dating between 1930 and 1940 have been identified for at least 59 Border Inspection Stations, and at least 48 of these constructed between 1931 and 1943 are believed to still exist as of the year 2006. This is by far the largest and most cohesive group of U.S. Border Inspection Stations that share reason for authorization, design, plan, era, and function. The U.S. Inspection Station—Ambrose, North Dakota, is representative of one of the property types identified in the Border Station MPS: Property Type Number 3: 1 ½ story office with garage wings and separate living quarters. The Property Type Number 3 design was used often and appears in extant Inspection Stations not only in North Dakota but also in Vermont, New York, Maine, and once in California, where it is done in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Most of the type-3 designs were done in the northern states. The steep pitch roof combined and brick cladding of the primary building have been referred to as “Northern Style” design qualities in regards to the border stations. Such designs are ubiquitous in the northern states, where these features allow the building to buffer the affects of cold climates, rain, and snow.

According to the Registration Requirements of the Border Station MPS, to be considered at a state level of significance, the main building must retain all seven aspects of integrity.” As demonstrated in the Description section of this registration form, the Land Port of Entry —Ambrose, North Dakota retains all aspects of integrity and meets the registration requirements in the MPS to be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A and C, and at the state level of significance, period of significance 1932.

*** National Register nomination

Facts

• Architect: James A. Wetmore
• Construction Date: 1932 
• GSA Building Number: ND0501AK
• National Register of Historic Places Landmark Status: National Register Listed