Common name: Paul Laxalt State Building
Historic name: U.S. Post Office / Federal building
General Location: Northeast corner of Carson and Telegraph Streets, Downtown Carson City, Nevada
Address: 401 North Carson Street
Assessor's PN: 004-214-01
Current use: Nevada Commission on Tourism / State offices
Original use: Post office / federal building
Year of construction: 1888-89
Architect: M.E. Bell, U.S. Treasury architect
The large brick Romanesque Revival structure is varied in height with two, three and four story portions. The tower is the tallest element, its peak and sphere being almost five stories from sidewalk level. The central portion of the structure is gabled, the tower roof is octagonal, and other roof forms are hipped. The facade composition of the central portion includes a series of four arches supported by piers, doubled in the center, and with carved sandstone capitals, on the first floor and two sets of three windows each on the next two stories beneath the very large fanlight window in the gable. Except for the first floor level, the rear face of the gable is essentially the same. Corbelled corner buttresses are topped with carved sandstone capitals. The tower contains a clock within a small projecting gable on each of four sides, and a large arch at the first floor level. The two story portions also contain large arched openings at front, side, and rear, and decorative brick corbels at the eaves. Varied heights of rear portions added to the rear contribute to the irregularity and compositional interest of the building's form. Brickwork patterns form horizontal bands on the building's surface and sandstone lintels and capitals add color accents to the facades.
A flat-roofed one story brick addition stands at the rear. Stairs have been added on the south, and a ramp to provide access for the handicapped has been added to the north facade.
The structure is considerably larger in size and scale than any other nearby structures.
The structure is an exceptional example of Romanesque Revival Style. Compositionally, the building is varied and interesting. Principal elements of mass are asymmetrical and create a dynamic imbalance that causes to move around the building to seek a resolution. The fenestration is emphasized by deep recessions, adding a fortress-like countenance to massive building. The varied and inventive decorative brickwork and the color accents of sandstone add an interesting interplay of textures add an interesting interplay of textures and color to the surface.
Constructed between 1888 and 1889 as a post office, the structure was the first federal government building in the state of Nevada. The supervising architect for the Treasury department was M. E. Bell.
Source: American Building Survey, 1974.
Listed in the National Historic Register: 1979 Feb 09.
City Landmark: Kit Carson Trail, Plaque No. 6.
Year of construction: 1888-89 (factual: HABS), on the original site.
Architect: M.E. Bell, U.S. Treasury architect.
Text: Carson City Historic Resources Inventory, 1980 & 1988.