File:Landmark Center, 5th Street, Saint Paul, MN - 51685940740.jpg

English: Built between 1894 and 1902, this Richardsonian Romanesque-style granite building was designed by Willoughby J. Edbrooke to serve as the United States Post Office, Courthouse, and Custom House for St. Paul. The building occupies an entire city block between 5th Street, 6th Street, Washington Street, and Market Street, and sits next to Landmark Plaza, Hamm Plaza, and Rice Park. The exterior of the building features multiple turrets, steeply pitched red tile roofs, multiple wall dormers, and two towers, one of which features a clock. The building has a very simple exterior with few ornately carved details, with the interior being much more grandiose, and featuring a massive five-story atrium, 20-foot ceilings, and extensive use of marble, oak, and mahogany. The building housed the city’s post office and custom house until the larger Eugene McCarthy US Post Office and Custom House was completed on Kellogg Boulevard in 1934, after which it served as the Federal Courthouse until the Warren E. Burger Federal Building and United States Courthouse was completed in 1966. Following the departure of the federal government, the building became unused and endangered, and was threatened with demolition. A local community group fought to preserve the building, with the building being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 as part of these efforts. The building was restored to its original splendor during the 1970s, and reopened as Landmark Center in 1978, housing multiple arts organizations, and is owned and operated by Minnesota Landmarks, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving historical buildings and sites in the state of Minnesota.