Completion Year: 1937

A mahogany wood bas-relief by Archibald Garner, entitled "Centinella Springs," frames a doorway inside the main post office in Inglewood CA.  It depicts early California settlers drawing water from a local spring. (Inglewood was briefly known as "Centinella" in the 19th century) The post office building was constructed in 1935 and Garner's relief was created in 1937 for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts (not the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and its arts programs, as sometimes thought).

In 1937, Milford Zornes (assisted by George Biddle) painted an enormous oil-on-canvas mural, "California Landscape," in the Claremont, CA, post office. The mural was funded by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP). Other sources have the name of the mural as "Pomona Valley Life, 1936" The 58' x 3'4" mural wraps around all four walls of the lobby. "There are clusters of trees, people walking along a road, a farmer leading two plough horses, and a couple in Mexican finery dancing. Bridges Auditorium, meant to represent Pomona College and the importance of higher education, is also portrayed" (Dunitz, p. 343). Zornes was...

This historic post office was built by the Treasury in 1936-37. It now houses the Tracy Historical Museum.

Virgil Middle School in Los Angeles, CA was rebuilt following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Construction between 1935 and 1937 totaled $299,873 and was partially funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA). In 1935, contractor Ralph E. Homann rebuilt the school's south building. This PWA Moderne structure appears to survive between the main building and auditorium on Vermont St. It now houses the cafeteria. The following year, Virgil's main building was demolished. N. W. Thiele Construction Company built new administration and home economics buildings designed by architect Sumner P. Hunt. The administration building combines elements of the PWA Moderne and Neoclassical styles...

The former post office in Ukiah CA was built in 1936 and inaugurated Jan. 30, 1937. The building's construction was funded by the Treasury Department, and is sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It is a typical single-story Moderne-style building of the 1930s, constructed 0f poured concrete, covering 11,200 square-feet.  It cost $72,315 (pressdemocrat.com).  This post office was taken out of service in 2012 and put on the market, despite considerable protest from the local community.  Local activists succeeded in having it placed on the National Register of Historic Places that year. It was still sitting unused behind a steel fence in...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded a new fire station for Porterville in 1937.  This building replaced the original fire station, which was on an adjacent lot and where the new City Hall was constructed (also a New Deal building). The fire station is a one-story, Moderne building with minimal decoration (vertical ribbing), with four bays for fire engines.  It was designed by W. D. Coates. The New Deal fire station is still in use.

The Beach Chalet at the western end of Golden Gate Park, built in 1925, is home to a trove of New Deal artworks in the first floor lobby, or entrance hall. The centerpiece of the Beach Chalet's artworks is an enormous fresco mural by Lucien Labaudt, entitled "San Francisco Life."   This magnificent mural cycle is 9' high and covers all four walls of the lobby (about 1500 square feet in all). It was painted by Labaudt in 1936-37. The mural cycle has nine sections depicting San Francisco locales: the Embarcadero & Fisherman's Wharf on the north wall; Baker's Beach on the...

The Martinez downtown post office was constructed by the Treasury Department Office of Procurement for the United States Post Office in 1936-37.  It is a striking one-story Moderne building built of reinforced concrete, with a central entrance and two windows on each side of the facade.   The entrance and central windows are bordered by lovely decorative bas-relief elements and there is a beautiful golden-eagle sculpture over the door. The interior of the post office is in excellent condition, with the original woodwork, metal grills and post boxes.  It also houses a New Deal mural by Hamlin and Dixon at the south...

In 1937, John Law Walker painted an oil on canvas mural titled "The Stage Coach" for the South Pasadena Post Office in South Pasadena, CA. The mural was commissioned by the Treasury Relief Art Project. The mural represents the transition from the Spanish to the early American period. It depicts an overland mail coach, set in typical California scenes.  

The Redondo Beach post office contains three oil-on-canvas murals funded by the Treasury Art Project (TRAP) in 1937. They were originally installed in the old Post Office building at Catalina and Garnet streets and relocated when the post office moved to its current location in 1977. The lead painter was Paul Sample, assisted by Jean Swiggett and Ivan Bartlett. The murals depict "Sheep Farming and Ocean Near Redondo," "Excursion Train and Picnickers in the 90s" and "Fishing Redondo Dock."