Designed by architect Daniel H. Burnham, who also designed Union Station, and constructed from 1910 to 1912, the Southern Building was part of a larger building trend of banks and other financial institutions in downtown DC. One of many buildings designed by notable architects, the Southern Building added to the growing financial center of the city. Many of the buildings that would make up the Financial Historic District emulated the Beaux Arts style popular during the City Beautiful movement of the early 20th century. As the Chairman of the McMillan Commission, Burnham was a proponent of this style and movement. The Financial Historic District consists of numerous buildings along and near 15th Street NW and McPherson Square that housed financial institutions in the early 20th century. Their architectural styles emulated classical building styles of earlier centuries and within Europe, creating a unified look in the area. These buildings signaled a more “sophisticated” and “cosmopolitan” landscape, and were often at the forefront of new technology and services within office buildings. Like other buildings nearby, the Southern Building exemplified these traits.
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
Within Financial Historic District
]]>One of the first great union terminals, this imperial station with its vast interior spaces was the cornerstone of the McMillan Commission’s efforts to revive Pierre L’Enfant’s original plan of the city. Following the 1901 McMillan Commission, its members realized that any further development of L’Enfant’s Plan necessitated removing existing railroad facilities from the National Mall. In cooperation with the railroad companies, Congress approved a union terminal site on the northside of Massachusetts Avenue in 1903.
The architect of Union Station was the Chairman of the McMillan Commission, Daniel H. Burnham (1846-1912). In order to make Union Station a truly monumental gateway to the capital, Burnham turned to the triumphal architecture of Rome for design inspiration, deriving the central pavilion from the Arch of Constantine and modeling the interior after the Baths of Diocletian.
The first train to arrive at Union Station, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Pittsburgh Express, made its way into the station on October 27, 1907. The building was completed the following year. With virtually no other means of long-distance transportation available, Union Station became the “grand gateway to the capital.”
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: March 24, 1969 (Columbus Fountain and Plaza listed on April 9, 1980)
National Register (Additional Documentation): October 12, 2007
]]>