Old Post Office Building

Identification

Map

Structure in general

Usage

Facts

• The tower has a free public observatory.
• The Old Post Office Building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973 and a National Park Site on February 15, 1983.
• The entrance on the east side is into the basement, and a large food court. A 10-story atrium rises above.
• This was the first government building to have its own electric power plant, with generators installed to power over 3,900 lights throughout the buiding.
• The building was nearly demolished in 1971, but was saved by the efforts of Nancy Hanks, head of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the D.C. Preservation League.
• The 10 Congress Bells range in weight from 581 lbs (263.5 kg) to 2,953 lbs (1339.5 kg), and are replicas of the bells found in Westminster Abbey in London.
• The 10 "Congress Bells" in the tower are rung for 3½ hrs at the opening and closing of Congress, and for state occasions.
• In 1976, in honor of the nation's bicentennial celebration, the Ditchley Foundation of Britain gifted a set of English change ringing bells to Congress; in April 1983, the bells were permanently installed in the building's clock tower.
• This is the tallest high-rise building in Washington, and the city's third-tallest structure, after the Washington Monument and the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.