William M. Steger Federal Courthouse – Tyler TX - Courthouses on Waymarking.com

"By August 1932 the federal government had determined that the building site would encompass the location of the 1886/1908 building and several nearby buildings to be purchased by the government. The old federal building was razed in April 1933, and construction of the new federal facility was underway by the following month. Drawings for the new Tyler U.S. Post Office and Courthouse were prepared by local architect Shirley Simons. He worked under the supervision of James A. Wetmore, Acting Supervising Architect for the Office of the Supervising Architect, U.S. Treasury Department. The firm of Ralph Sollitt and Sons of Chicago, Illinois, was awarded the construction contract.

The Tyler U.S. Post Office and Courthouse is an excellent example of a Classical Revival-style public building. Its base is of a dark gray mottled granite. The first floor is clad in light buff limestone; the second and third floors are salmoncolored brick. Above the third floor is a limestone frieze, which features a carved relief band of steer heads and swags. Shields depicting a pony express rider (representing the post office), an eagle (for the Justice Department), scales (for the Treasury Department), and a pine tree (possibly representing East Texas) are visible at the architrave. An acroterion appears at each comer of the parapet, A pitched, clay tile roof extends above the parapet.

Entries are located on the south (primary) and west elevations. Windows on the first floor are 2/2steel casement with decorative grilles set over fixed transoms. A cornice and an embellished frieze embossed with rosettes are present above the windows. Scrolled pediments extend over the cornice. Second- and third-floor windows are vertically divided by fluted limestone spandrels. The upper-floor window units are generally 2/2 steel casement.

Concrete steps with terraced, granite, cheek walls introduce the building's original entrance on the primary (south) fa9ade. Pedestaled on the top of these cheek walls are two massive urn-style light fixtures. Each bronze fixture sits on granite drums ornamented with fretwork. The entry is set within a slightly projected pavilion with limestone pilasters supporting a frieze and crested cornice. The cresting consists of a series of eagles flanked by scrollwork and a palmette motif The frieze is unadorned with the exception of the words:

The entryway is set within an embellished surround composed of various motifs, including a border of circular bosses, a architrave of rosette bosses, and cresting with a palmette at the center and acroteria St each corner. The actual entry door, originally paneled bronze, has been replaced with contemporary storefront-type doors. An original bronze grille still sits in the transom over the storefront doors. The second- and third-floor windows in the entry pavilion are recessed, forming a balcony. Cast bronze grilles obscure the steel-framed casement windows. Similar to the entry doors, the window banks are enhanced by a decorative surround created by an inner border of bundled leaves and an outer border of fretwork. A flagpole projects from the base of the second-floor window."