Old Post Office (Washington, D.C.)

About

The Old Post Office, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Old Post Office and Clock Tower, is located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C. It is a contributing property to the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. It is adjacent to the Federal Triangle station on the Washington Metro. The building's 315-foot high clock tower houses the "Bells of Congress," and its observation level offers panoramic views of the city and its surroundings. The historic federal office building has been a hotel since 2016.

Construction began in 1892 and was completed in 1899. The building is an example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, popular in the late 19th-century United States. Its bell tower is the third tallest structure in Washington, D.C., excluding radio towers. It succeeded an earlier 1839 building, the General Post Office, which was built in Classical Revival style on F Street NW. It was used as the city's main General Post Office until 1914 at the beginning of World War I.