NOW THE CITY-COUNTY BUILDING • 316 N. PARK AVE

 

An early image of the Federal Building. Still standing strong, it serves today as the City-County Building. It's been a popular postcard subject over the past century, and was even pictured on souvenir china. Just prior to the completion of this building in 1904, the U. S. Post Office occupied the entire ground floor and the basement of the Power Block, at the corner of 6th and Main.

 

Paynes Hotel occupied the site of the Federal Building from 1870 to 1904.

 

The footprint of Payne's Hotel superimposed on a recent satellite image of the City-County Building.

 

 

Ca. 1910 view

 

 

A souvenir teacup, ca. 1910.

 

 

 

Looking south, ca. 1920. COLLECTION OF KENNON BAIRD

 

 

 

A view from the mid-1930s. The large addition to the rear of the building was completed in 1934 at a cost of $320,000 (about $5 million in 2006 dollars). It was faced with Columbus sandstone quarried in Stillwater County, the same material with which the state capitol was constructed. In the fall of 1934, the grounds were plowed up in preparation for the extensive landscaping of 1935.

 

 

 

Bronze mailbox, Federal Building. Photo taken ca. 1985. There were banks of these along the lobby walls.

 

 

 

 

Ca. 1940. The nice hedge is long gone.

 

 

 

A colored postcard view from the same era. The parking meters have been airbrushed out of the photo.

 

 

 

A 1970s view, taken from the Blackstone Apartments. The landscaping of 1935 is nearly all gone. Note the soon-to-be-demolished red brick Electric Block on 6th Avenue. Here's how it looked when new...

Electric Block, 1890. It was in this building that electricty for the city was generated by steam prior to the construction of the first Canyon Ferry Dam in 1896.

 

Drive-up mailbox on Park Ave., 1970. Taken from the Federal Building steps.

 

 

 

Stairs inside the Federal Building, 1970. COLLECTION OF KENNON BAIRD