Washington DC - Southwest Federal Center: Jamie L. Whitten Building
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Administration Building, at 12th Street and Jefferson Drive, SW, also known as the Jamie L. Whitten Building, sometimes referred to as the North Building, projects into te National Mall from the larger U.S. Department of Agriculture South Building, and is the only building on the Mall that is not intended for use by the general public. Designed in neoclassical style by Rankin, Kellogg and Crane, the L-shaped wings were completed between 1904 and 1908, but the central block was not finished until 1930. It was the first large Beaux-Arts style building in Washington and set the prototype for the later buildings of the Federal Triangle. The east and west wings were the first Federal office buildings to be built of reinforced concrete. The building's façade pediment features sculpture by Adolph Alexander Weinman.
The placement of the new building on the Mall was at odds with the proposed McMillan Plan, which envisioned a Mall free of intrusive buildings abd opposed by Commission members Daniel Burnham and Charles McKim. After a series of intercessions by President Theodore Roosevelt the building was moved to be in accordance with the Plan, but only after foundations were in place 106 feet to the east.
In 1936 bridges were built across Independence Avenue to link the wings to the South Building. The single-span stone arches form a dramatic accent on Independence Avenue. The soffits of the bridges are faced with Guastavino tile. The east bridge is dedicated to Seaman A. Knapp, while the west bridge commemorates Agriculture Secretary James Wilson.
The Administration Building was renamed in 1995 in honor of Mississippi Congressman Jamie L. Whitten, former chairman of the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies.
National Register #74002175 (1974)
Comments and faves
Justin A. Wilcox (24 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Neoclassical Architecture, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
This photo was invited and added to the Neoclassical Architecture group.