Editing Federal Triangle (section)

===Beginning: Hoover administration===
[[File:Oldpostoffice southernrailway districtbuilding c1932.jpg|thumb|The [[Old Post Office (Washington, D.C.)|Old Post Office Pavilion]] (left), Southern Railway Building (middle), and [[John A. Wilson Building|District Building]] on [[Pennsylvania Avenue]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], in December 1932]]
[[File:Federal Triangle Washington LOC hec.37493.jpg|thumb|right|A 1934 aerial photo of the western portion of Federal Triangle]]
[[File:Apexbuilding construction 1937.jpg|thumb|The [[Apex Building]] on Federal Triangle under construction in 1937]]
The [[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury Department]] signed a contract to raze the buildings on the site of the planned [[Internal Revenue Service]] building in October 1926.<ref name="TwoContracts" /> The length of the Commerce building was set at {{convert|1000|ft|m}} in March 1927, and survey work at the site began on March 31, 1927 (even though final plans for the project were still unclear).<ref name="Whitaker" /><ref name="DateSet" /> Work on all buildings was postponed in May 1927.<ref name="PlannersSuggest" /> Work began again in September 1927, with demolition work on the Commerce and Internal Revenue sites.<ref name="PlansCapitol" /><ref name="TheCommerce" /> Excavation of both sites began on November 21, 1927.<ref>"Work on New Federal Buildings Starts Soon." ''Washington Post.'' November 18, 1927; "Contractors Start Excavating On Site of Revenue Office." ''Washington Post.'' November 22, 1927.</ref> Additional demolition contracts were awarded for both sites in April 1928,<ref>"Contract to Wreck Buildings Awarded." ''Washington Post.'' April 20, 1928.</ref> and foundation work for the Internal Revenue building began in June 1928.<ref>"Digging of Revenue Cellar Is Begun." ''Washington Post.'' June 19, 1928.</ref> Some 8,000 pilings were driven into the soft ground to support the foundation.<ref name="NewEdifice">"New Revenue Edifice Startles Imagination In Its Appointments." ''Washington Post.'' June 8, 1930.</ref> Work on Internal Revenue's superstructure began on March 8.<ref>"New Internal Revenue Structure Is Started." ''Washington Post.'' March 9, 1929; "First Steel Work Set For Revenue Building." ''Washington Post.'' March 22, 1929.</ref>

The cornerstone of the first building to be constructed, the Internal Revenue building, was laid by Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon on May 25, 1929.<ref name="IRSCornerstone" /><ref name="MellonRain" /> While digging its foundation, workers uncovered a dock which was at least 100 years old.<ref>[[Tiber Creek]] had once run along B Street NW (now Constitution Avenue NW), and the dock had once extended into Tiber Creek. In 1815, Tiber Creek was straightened and connected to and became part of the [[Washington City Canal]]. The canal fell into disuse by the 1850s. Tiber Creek was enclosed by a masonry tunnel beginning in 1878 and the tunnel connected to the city's sewer system so that the creek's natural flow would help flush sewage into the [[Potomac River]]. Much of the area immediately south and west of the B Street NW and the Washington Monument was, at the time, part of the Potomac River. After a disastrous flood in 1881, the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] dredged a deep channel in the Potomac and used the material to fill in the Potomac (creating the current banks of the river) and raise much of the land near the White House and along Pennsylvania Avenue NW by nearly six feet (two metres).  One or more of these actions buried the Tiber Creek dock. See: Tindall, William. ''Standard History of the City of Washington From a Study of the Original Sources.'' Knoxville, Tenn.: H.W. Crew & Co., 1914; Heine, Cornelius W. "The Washington City Canal." ''Records of the Columbia Historical Society of Washington, D.C.'' 1953; {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20120910025134/http://www.sewerhistory.org/articles/compon/1894_aen03/index.htm "The Tiber Creek Sewer Flush Gates, Washington, D.C."]}} ''Engineering News and American Railway Journal.'' February 8, 1894; Evelyn, Dickson, and Ackerman, ''On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C.,'' 2008; Bednar, ''L'Enfant's Legacy: Public Open Spaces in Washington,'' 2006; [[William Atherton Du Puy|Du Puy]], "New Washington Buildings Emerge," ''The New York Times'', June 1, 1930.</ref> [[Indiana Limestone|Indiana limestone]] was used for the facing, and [[Tennessee marble]] for the columns.<ref name="DuPuy" /> The sites of all the Triangle buildings had been established in their revised positions by May 1929, with two exceptions: The positions of the Justice and Archives buildings remained as originally planned (with Justice in the east), and the apex space remained unallotted.<ref name="McCormick" /> President (and former Commerce Secretary) Herbert Hoover laid the cornerstone of the Commerce building on June 10, 1929, using the same [[trowel]] President [[George Washington]] had used to lay the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.<ref name="HooverHails" /><ref name="ReadySoon">"Ready Soon to Occupy Commerce Building." ''New York Times.'' December 26, 1931.</ref><ref>"Hoover and Notables Aid Dedication of Structure for Big Project." ''Washington Post.'' June 11, 1929.</ref> The construction contract for the Commerce building (set at $13.567 million) had been signed in March,<ref>"$13,567,000 Low Bid For Commerce Building." ''Washington Post.'' March 31, 1929.</ref> and the contract for its limestone facade—according to at least one newspaper account, the largest stone contract in world history—was awarded in April.<ref>"Stone Contract Is Given For Commerce Building." ''Washington Post.'' April 14, 1929.</ref> By then, the cost of the Commerce building had risen to $17.5 million.<ref name="HooverHails" /><ref name="ReadySoon" /> Due to the formerly [[marsh]]y condition of the soil and several submerged streams nearby, more than 18,000 [[deep foundation|pilings]] had to be set to support the Commerce building.<ref name="DuPuy" /> Water pressure from the submerged Tiber Creek made it too difficult to drive the piles,<ref name="Barrows">Barrows, George H. "Department of Commerce Home Baffles Writers Trying to Visualize Structure." ''Washington Post.'' December 31, 1931.</ref> so a [[Surface supplied diving|deep-sea diver]] descended into the underground Tiber Creek and drilled a hole 20 feet (6.1 metres) deep into the earth.<ref name="Barrows" /> A hose was inserted into the hole, and water pumped from the earth until the water table dropped and the driving of the piles could be accomplished.<ref name="Barrows" /> The [[Wall Street Crash of 1929|October 1929 stock market crash]] and subsequent [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] led newly elected President [[Herbert Hoover]] to increase spending on existing public works as a means of stimulating the economy.<ref name="Cannadine" /> No funds had been authorized yet for the Archives, Independent Offices, Justice, or Labor buildings, and Hoover secured an additional $2.5 million a year for 10 years from Congress for this purpose.<ref name="HooverEnlarges">"Hoover Enlarges Capital Project." ''New York Times.'' July 6, 1929.</ref><ref name="Cannadine" /><ref>"Archives Building Bill Before House." ''Washington Post.'' December 6, 1928; "Justice Building Fund to Be Asked." ''Washington Post.'' November 3, 1929; "Hoover Urges 1932 as Date To Finish Building Program." ''Washington Post.'' December 4, 1929; Folliard, Edward T. "U.S. to Spend $25,000,000 In Building Here." ''Washington Post.'' December 29, 1929.</ref> Work on the Justice and Independent Offices/Labor buildings now proceeded.<ref name="Cannadine" />

Treasury officials hoped to have the Post Office building under construction and ground broken for the Justice building by December 1930.<ref>"$300,000,000 Program for Washington Told." ''New York Times.'' May 17, 1930.</ref> But a major design change and funding choices were made in 1930. Pope convinced the Commission on Fine Arts to switch the positions of the Department of Justice and National Archives, giving the Justice building more space.<ref name="Cannadine" /> Congress also amended the Public Buildings Act to permit private (not just federally employed) architects to bid on design contracts, and agreed to fund the construction of the Justice, Labor/ICC, National Archives, and Post Office buildings.<ref name="Cannadine" /><ref>For a time, the design of the Archives and Post Office buildings included the diversion of cool water from Tiber Creek to cool the buildings. See: "River Use to Cool Building Weighed." ''Washington Post.'' July 29, 1931; "Home of Federal Records Will Bring Dignity to Seventh St." ''Washington Post.'' December 22, 1933.</ref>

1931 saw much of the Federal Triangle project near completion. In March 1931, Congress appropriated $3 million to begin construction of the Apex Building, the last structure to be funded.<ref name="Cannadine" /> Demolition began on the site the following November.<ref>"Pennsylvania Ave. Razing Is Continued." ''Washington Post.'' November 6, 1931.</ref> The Internal Revenue building was completed and occupied in June.<ref name="DuPuy">[[William Atherton Du Puy|Du Puy, William Atherton]]. "New Washington Buildings Emerge." ''New York Times.'' June 1, 1930.</ref><ref name="InternalFinished">"Internal Revenue Building Finished." ''Washington Post.'' June 1, 1930.</ref> It was finished a year ahead of schedule, and contained more than 672,000 square feet (62,500 square meters) of office space (3.4 percent more than originally planned).<ref name="InternalFinished" /> But work had yet to begin on the Justice, Labor, or Post Office buildings.<ref name="DuPuy" /> Work on the ICC building finally began in April 1931 when the two blocks for the site began to be razed, and 13th Street NW was permanently blocked off at that time.<ref name="WorkICC">"Work On New I.C.C. Structure Nearing." ''Washington Post.'' April 21, 1931; "Firm Here Enters Low Bid on Razing." ''Washington Post.'' May 21, 1931.</ref> The first work on the Post Office site began in July with demolition as well.<ref name="Heurfurth">"Herfurth Will Clear New Postoffice Site." ''Washington Post.'' July 2, 1931.</ref> Demolition of existing structures on the Archives site ended in August 1931, and ground was finally broken on September 5.<ref>"Government Work Bids Invited Here." ''Washington Post.'' August 6, 1931; "Archives Building Excavating Is Let." ''Washington Post.'' August 27, 1931.</ref><ref name="ArchivesBrokenToday">"Archives Building Site to Be Broken In Ceremony Today." ''Washington Post.'' September 5, 1931.</ref> Meanwhile, razing of the ICC/Labor site was also completed by the first of September,<ref name="ArchivesBrokenToday" /> and excavation work began shortly thereafter.<ref>"Contract Is Signed For Excavation Job." ''Washington Post.'' September 2, 1931.</ref>

In 1932, the Commerce building opened and construction began on three additional buildings at Federal Triangle. The Department of Commerce building opened on January 4, 1932.<ref>"Hoover Inspects Commerce Building." ''New York Times.'' January 3, 1932.</ref> The finished building had 1,605,066 square feet (148,271.1 square metres) of office space (more than 60 percent larger than originally planned), and its foundation was more than three feet thick in places in order to withstand the hydraulic pressure put on it by the submerged [[Tiber Creek]].<ref name="ReadySoon" /> Water from the Tiber was utilized as an air conditioning system, to cool the building.<ref name="Barrows" /> July saw the construction contract for the $7.67 million Justice Department building signed.<ref>"Justice Building Contract Awarded." ''Washington Post.'' July 1, 1932.</ref> Although some funds for Federal Triangle projects had not been appropriated yet, work still went ahead using funds from other projects which were behind schedule.<ref>"U.S. Construction Work in Capital Is To Be Pushed Ahead." ''Washington Post.'' July 3, 1932.</ref> On September 26, 1932, the 143rd anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Postal Service, President Hoover laid the cornerstone of the Post Office Department building (although the foundation had already been laid, and the steel superstructure of the building was already three stories high).<ref name="Speeded" /><ref>"Capital Post Office Named for Franklin." ''New York Times.'' August 27, 1932; "Avenue Postoffice To Have New Name." ''Washington Post.'' August 27, 1932; "New Postoffice's Corner Stone Will Be Laid On Sept. 26." ''Washington Post.'' August 28, 1932; "Hoover to Preside In New Postoffice Corner Stone Rite." ''Washington Post.'' September 26, 1932.</ref><ref name="PostalFete">"President to Lead Postal Fete Today." ''New York Times.'' September 26, 1932.</ref> Once again, Hoover used the trowel which George Washington had used to lay the Capitol's cornerstone.<ref name="Speeded">"$10,000,000 Building Speeded By Hoover." ''New York Times.'' September 27, 1932.</ref><ref>"Washington's Trowel Is Used; Service Personnel Gets Executive Praise." ''Washington Post.'' September 27, 1932.</ref> Congress had appropriated $10.3 million for the new structure, which was designed to accommodate more than 3,000 workers.<ref name="PostalFete" /> Its eight stories would be laid on a granite foundation and the sides clad in limestone.<ref name="PostalFete" /> On December 1, 1932, the contract for construction of the limestone National Archives building (whose estimated construction cost was $5.284 million) was awarded to the [[George A. Fuller|George A. Fuller Company]] (which had constructed the [[The Times Square Building|New York Times Building]] and the [[Flatiron Building]]).<ref>"Fuller Gets $5,284,000 Contract." ''New York Times.'' December 2, 1932.</ref> Hoover laid two cornerstones on December 15 for the Labor/ICC building, the third building to begin construction that year.<ref name="HooverLaysLabor">"Hoover Lays Stone of Labor Building." ''New York Times.'' December 16, 1932.</ref><ref name="NewLabor">"New Labor Building Dedication Is Today." ''Washington Post.'' December 15, 1932.</ref><ref name="HooverDedicatesNewLabor">"Hoover Dedicates new Labor Building." ''Washington Post.'' December 16, 1932.</ref> Workers who were [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]] assisted the President in laying the cornerstones.<ref name="HooverLaysLabor" /><ref name="HooverDedicatesNewLabor" /> Hoover personally oversaw the dedication of the cornerstone at the Labor end of the building. His words were broadcast over loudspeaker to the workers at the ICC end of the structure, who placed the ICC cornerstone simultaneously at the President's instruction (becoming the first time in Washington history that a single person dedicated two cornerstones at the same time).<ref name="HooverLaysLabor" /><ref name="NewLabor" /><ref name="HooverDedicatesNewLabor" /> [[William Green (labor leader)|William Green]], President of the [[American Federation of Labor]], attended the laying of the cornerstone for the Labor building.<ref name="HooverLaysLabor" /><ref name="HooverDedicatesNewLabor" /> Once more, Hoover used the trowel used by Washington to lay the cornerstone of the Capitol.<ref name="HooverDedicatesNewLabor" /> Two weeks later, on December 30, the concrete foundation of the Archives building was poured.<ref>"New Archives Building Work Showing Progress." ''Washington Post.'' December 31, 1932.</ref>

Two days before [[George Washington]]'s birthday, U.S. President [[Herbert Hoover]] laid the cornerstone of the National Archives building on February 20, 1933.<ref>"Hoover to Preside at Archives Rites." ''Washington Post.'' February 19, 1933; "Hoover Dedicates Archives Building." ''New York Times.'' February 21, 1933; "President Places Archives Marker." ''Washington Post.'' February 21, 1933.</ref> The structure's cost was set at $8.75 million.<ref>McKee, Jr., Oliver. "A New Home for Our Archives." ''New York Times.'' May 14, 1933.</ref> Just three days later, he laid the cornerstone of the Department of Justice building with a trowel made from wood and cooper nails from the ''[[USS Constitution]]''.<ref name="Stresses">"Hoover Stresses Law Enforcement." ''New York Times.'' February 24, 1933.</ref><ref>"Hoover Lays Stone of Justice Building." ''Washington Post.'' February 24, 1933.</ref> [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[Charles Evans Hughes]], [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Associate Justice]] [[Harlan F. Stone|Harlan Fiske Stone]], Associate Justice [[Owen Roberts]], Associate Justice [[James Clark McReynolds]], [[Solicitor General of the United States|Solicitor General]] [[Thomas D. Thacher]], and [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[William D. Mitchell]] all attended the ceremony.<ref name="Stresses" /> Five months later, a small fire at the Post Office construction site was extinguished by a security guard before it could do any damage.<ref>"Fire Extinguished At New U.S. Office." ''Washington Post.'' July 19, 1933.</ref> Late in 1933, the northern addition to the Internal Revenue building (the land had been condemned in December 1930)<ref name="CourtSignsOrder" /> began to rise.<ref name="Within" />