Sidney R. Yates Federal Building (Washington, D.C.)

 office building, Romanesque (architecture), NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1880_construction, information centre, federal government

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The Sidney R. Yates building, formerly the Auditors Main Building, is actually a collection of buildings which shrank as the Holocaust Memorial Museum grew. In 1985 the Museum demolished the South Annex to expand its site and in 1987 took over the West Annex for office space.

Modernized between 1987 and 1990 for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the Yates building is the oldest of the buildings which comprise the Agriculture complex. It was completed in 1880 for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s operations. Described as Romanesque in style, the red brick clock tower is the dominate exterior architectural feature. The interior is distinguished by an ornamental cast iron and brass staircase. A stable, laundry, and other dependencies were subsequently added. Electrified in 1888, the original building was expanded in 1891 as the Bureau quickly outgrew their quarters. In 1915, the main building was renovated to house the Auditors division; hence, its name.

In January 1999, the Auditors Main Building was redesignated the Sidney R. Yates Federal Building, Public Law 105-277, to honor the Congressman from Illinois who served on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies.

The building houses, at the corner of Independence Avenue and 16th Street, SW, the USDA Forest Service Headquarters Information Center, which contains a forestry exhibit and museum.

www.dm.usda.gov/buildings.htm#Yates%20Building
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