Department of Agriculture South Building
The South Building was built between 1930 and 1936 to house the expanded offices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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One of the largest and most significant examples of Federal government expansion during the 1930s, this south building was built as an office and laboratory annex to the Department of Agriculture. Its construction represents a notable attempt to accommodate efficiency and flexibility in large-scale government construction, using a modular scheme of multiple wings separated by light courts. Originally termed the "Extensible Building," it was once considered to be the world's largest office building, although its Classical Revival design was always intended to mark it as subordinate to the Neoclassical main Department of Agriculture building.
Already under design by 1927, the new building was constructed in phases between 1930 and 1936. It features a design by Louis A. Simon of the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury.
DC Inventory: April 26, 2007
National Register: July 5, 2007
