TIME AND PLACE: THE EVOLUTION AND HISTORY OF RALEIGH'S CENTURY STATION FEDERAL BUILDING AS A STUDY IN DECISION MAKING AND USE OF FEDERAL DOLLARS

Abstract

This research project came about through a partnership between the Middle Tennessee State University Center for Historic Preservation (CHP) and The United States General Services Administration (GSA). GSA approached the CHP, a nonprofit research center, for the purpose of recommending historical treatments in the Century Station Federal Building and Courthouse in Raleigh, North Carolina. During the course of the research project, questions arose regarding what period of significance best defines a building that evolved over several important stages during distinctly different points in American history. Ultimately the answers to those questions came in the form of extant physical documentation such as architectural drawings and paint samples, historical documentation in the form of newspapers and photographs, and an understanding of the importance of each stage of the building's development in the greater context of American history.