The Tomochichi Federal Building and United States Courthouse is a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia located in Savannah, Georgia. It was built between 1894 and 1899, and substantially enlarged in 1932. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and was renamed in honor of the Creek Indian leader Tomochichi in 2005.Building historyThe building is located on a prominent site within the city's National Historic Landmark District. The building occupies an entire city block bounded by Bull, York, Whitaker, and State streets, adjacent to Wright Square. The building makes an important visual contribution architecturally to the city due to the high quality of its design and materials, and as such is individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Designed in the Second Renaissance Revival style, with richly carved ornamentation, it is one of the most distinguished and imposing buildings of its era in Savannah.The building was constructed primarily to house the Savannah post office, which was previously located in the U.S. Custom House. In 1889, work had just begun on a new post office at the corner of York and Abercorn Streets when construction was suspended because the citizens of Savannah wanted a "more suitable" building than the one originally planned. As a result, the U.S. Congress was persuaded to appropriate additional funds for the new post office, and in 1894, excavations began at a new site in the southern half of the block now entirely occupied by the building. This site itself was notable in Savannah's history as the former location of a courthouse where John Wesley, founder of Methodism, had preached in 1736 and 1737. The original building was designed between 1893 and 1894, during W. J. Edbrooke's tenure as Supervising Architect of the Treasury. The building cornerstone lists Jeremiah O'Rourke as the architect.
