Built along Washington between 2nd and 3rd Avenue South, the new Minneapolis Post Office, designed by James Knox Taylor, was completed in 1915. Construction involved clearing an acre of land and took almost two years. The “Temple of Mail” was used as a United States Post Office until 1936 when it was converted into a federal office building.
In the 1960’s the site was the focus of protests and demonstrations when it became the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station during the Vietnam War. In 1970 a bomb was set off near the 2nd Street entrance steps.
The explosion injured a security guard, shattered windows up to several blocks away and resulted in an estimated $500,000 of damage. Noted for a variety of classical, Beaux-Arts elements including a two-story Roman colonnade, the Old Federal Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.
