The Place:
The mixed-style architecture of this 1913 building reflects it's original purpose- to impress the crowds who would be coming to San Diego for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.
Wikipedia (visit link) adds:
"The Jacob Weinberger U.S. Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located in San Diego, California. It is a courthouse for the United States bankruptcy court for the Southern District of California.
Fueled by plans to build the Panama Canal, the turn of the 20th century brought aspirations of prosperity and status to San Diego. Civic leaders who lobbied for the construction of the canal hoped that the promise of increased commerce would establish San Diego as an international trade center rivaling San Francisco. A new federal building was commissioned to showcase San Diego's newfound standing and to provide governmental offices in anticipation of a burgeoning population and urban growth. To attract attention to the city, civic leaders began planning the 1915 Panama-California Exposition to celebrate the successful completion of the canal. The U.S. Courthouse was completed in 1913 and opened in time for the Exposition.
Originally called the U.S. Post Office and Customs House, the building also housed the U.S. District Court, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and the U.S. Weather Bureau. When economic crisis followed the outbreak of World War I, urban development in San Diego decelerated, halting plans to construct additional civic buildings adjacent to the U.S. Courthouse. Instead, the Courthouse's large front lawn was converted to a ?victory? vegetable garden to support the war effort.
When prosperity was renewed during the 1950s and 1960s, the Courthouse's caseloads became the heaviest in the nation, requiring a new Federal building complex, which was completed nearby in 1976. Even though the Courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, it was abandoned for the following decade. Attention refocused on the building in 1985, when much of the interior was gutted for conversion to INS offices. That same year, however, champions of historic preservation campaigned to restore the building. In 1988, the U.S. Courthouse was renamed in honor of Judge Jacob Weinberger. In 1994, an award-winning renovation and restoration project renewed the historic lobby and main courtroom to their original beauty while creating new offices and courtrooms that evoked the elegant style of the 1913 period.
The person:
From Wikipedia (
visit link) :
"Jacob Weinberger (1882 - May 20, 1974) was a United States federal judge.
Born in Czechoslovakia, Weinberger's family emigrated to Denver, Colorado in the late 1880s, where he attended the public schools. Weinberger received an LL.B. from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1904, and was in private practice in Denver in 1904, and in Gila County, Arizona from 1905 to 1911. He was an assistant district attorney of Gila County from 1907 to 1909. He was a Delegate to Arizona constitutional convention from Gila County in 1910. He was in private practice in San Diego, California from 1911 to 1941, serving as city attorney of San Diego from 1941 to 1943. He was a judge on the Superior Court of San Diego County from 1943 to 1945, returning to private practice until 1946.
On January 24, 1946, Weinberger was nominated by President Harry S. Truman to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of California vacated by Harry A. Hollzer. Weinberger was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 15, 1946, and received his commission on February 21, 1946. Weinberger was initially assigned to a duty station Los Angeles, but on November 1, 1949, he was assigned as the first resident federal judge in San Diego. He assumed senior status on November 1, 1958, serving thereafter until his death, in San Diego, California. Weinberger also served on the Board of Education for the San Diego School District for 21 years. The Jacob Weinberger Elementary School was named for him in 1963, and the Jacob Weinberger U.S. Courthouse in San Diego was renamed in his honor in 1988."