Location: 113 St Joseph St, Mobile, AL 36602
The John A. Campbell Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse gains its significance as a continuing symbol of the federal presence in Mobile. Located in the central business district and near the Alabama state docks the building was strategically located as a Federal Courthouse and Custom House. The building was completed in 1934. At the time, the construction was undertaken under the auspices of the U.S. Treasury Department and Louis Simon, Supervising Architect. It is also significant as an unfettered example of the federal architecture of the period.
The passage of the Public Buildings Act of 1926 precipitated a period of building construction that was unprecedented in the United States. The Public Buildings Act specified that the office of the Supervising Architect of the Department of the Treasury would be responsible for the design and construction of all public buildings. The Campbell Federal Building was constructed during this period, in 1934. The office of the Supervising Architect of the Department of the Treasury typically designed the federal buildings of the early 1930s. Occasionally a private architectural firm was hired to design a public building. Perhaps due to the failure of over half of the nation’s architectural firms in the Depression, the design of public buildings by local firms was encouraged by the mid-1930s. The Campbell Federal Building was designed by Carey and Dowling, a local firm.
The building was named for John A. Campbell who was one of two Supreme Court Justices from Alabama. Justice Campbell was appointed to the Court in 1853 but resigned when Alabama seceded from the Union at the onset of the Civil War (1861). Campbell subsequently became Assistant Secretary of War for the Confederacy.
The Federal Building was built adjacent to the U.S. Post Office, which was later torn down and replaced by a new federal office building, so the U.S. Courthouse has long been part of a federal complex in the central business district of Mobile. It remains a continuing symbol of the federal presence in the area.
Building Facts
- Architects: Carey and Dowling
- Construction Dates: 1932-1934
- GSA Building Number: AL0039AB
- Landmark Status: Listed in the National Register of Historic Places
U.S. General Services Administration
