The Cleveland Group Plan of 1903

The Federal Building

First to be constructed, the Federal Building was designed by Arnold W. Brunner, under the supervision of James Knox Taylor, Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department, for use as a Post Office, Customs House and Courthouse, and is alternately known as otherwise known at the United States Post Office, Custom House, and Court House. The five story building is clad in granite, and both the interior and exterior were renovated in 2005. The building and its extensive artwork remain intact, and it continues to be used as the Howard M. Metzenbaum United States Courthouse. The renovation has won nine awards.

Artwork includes the statues of "Jurisprudence" and "Commerce" that grace the outside of the building, by Daniel Chester French; murals of "Persuasion" and "Knowledge" by Frederic Crowninshield. Inside there are murals of "The City of Cleveland" by Will H. Low, and a rare oval mural of "Passing Commerce" by Kenyon Cox. In the courtrooms behind the benches are the sites for the murals entitled "The Common Law" by H. Siddons Mowbray and "The Law" by Edwin Blashfield. Also immortalized is "The Battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813" by Rufus Zogbaum. Finally, a series of thirty-five murals by Francis D. Millet called "The Collection and Delivery of the Mails" depicts the various ways mail has been delivered throughout the world.

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