Completion Year: 1941

The Lancaster post office was built in 1941 by the US Treasury Department, as indicated on the cornerstone.   It is a trim, one-story Art Moderne building of a familiar type of the post offices of the New Deal era – but with a distinctive tower at the NE corner.   The interior is virtually unchanged over time and includes a striking mural on the west wall by Jose Moya del Piño.

The Lancaster CA post office contains a striking oil-on-canvas mural by Spanish-born painter Jose Moya del Pino, who moved to San Francisco in the 1930s and worked on the famous Coit Tower murals. It would have been commissioned, like all post office murals, by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, and was installed when the post office was completed in 1941.  The mural is called "Hauling Water Pipe through Antelope Valley" and depicts a long mule-team hauling carts full of pipes through the Mojave Desert. This theme is quite distinctive compared to most historical murals showing scenes full of local notables...

The former Post Office in Venice, now privatized, contains a surreal, 10' x 20' mural, entitled "The Story of Venice," was painted by Edward Biberman under the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.   The mural was done with oil-wax emulsion on canvas.  It depicts a collage of city scenes from the early 20th century, including oil rigs and the old Venice pier.

An oil on canvas mural, "Richmond - Industrial City," by Victor Arnautoff was installed in the Richmond Post Office in April 1941.  It was funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts program.  The mural disappeared for years and was only recently rediscovered and moved to the Richmond Museum of History. It has not been restored as yet and is unavailable for public viewing as of 2019.  In 1976, the interior of the Richmond post office was completely renovated and the mural was removed by art conservator Nathan Zakheim, the son of another renowned New Deal artist, Bernard Zakheim.  But it was then...

This limestone sculpture, "Law" (1941), depicting a young woman with a tablet stands across the lobby from James Hansen's "Young Lincoln." The informational plaque near the sculpture reads: "The Fine Arts Section of the U.S. Department of the Treasury commissioned this 8' sculpture by Archibald Garner (1904-1969) in 1939, based on an open and anonymous competition available to all sculptors west of the Mississippi for the decoration of the Los Angeles Post Office and Courthouse lobby. The sculpture was installed in 1941 and is carved from one block of Indiana limestone, primarily by hand. Inscribed on the tablet which the figure...

This limestone sculpture, "Young Lincoln" (1941), by James Hansen depicts a young, shirtless, pensive Lincoln holding a book. It stands across the lobby from Garner's sculpture of "Law." The informational plaque describes the statue: "The Fine Arts Section of the U.S. Department of the Treasury commissioned this 8' sculpture Young Lincoln by James Hansen (1917-) in 1939 based on an open and anonymous competition available to all sculptors west of the Mississippi for the decoration of the Los Angeles Post Office and Courthouse lobby. 'Young Lincoln' was exhibited in the Works Progress Administration Building of the 1939 New York World's Fair...

In 1941, George Samerjan painted a 12' x 10' tempera mural titled "Studio Lot" for the Culver City, CA, post office. It was commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts (SFA). Samerjan was inspired by the MGM studios located in Culver City. "The scene depicts a film stage, as is evident by the framing that is visible behind the house façade and the support that attaches the tree limb to the base in the foreground. initially wanted to paint the behind-the-scenes workers who create movies, such as script researchers, machine shop mechanics, and the projection crew. After pushback from MGM,...

The Works Projects Administration (WPA) did extensive sidewalk construction along Oakland's Lakeshore Ave. There are still many stamps in the pavement reading "WPA 1940" and "WPA 1941" for a long two blocks stretch from Walavista to Rosal to Prince Streets.  The pavement stamps are mostly in driveways, but other can be seen on the sidewalks and gutters along both sides of Lakeshore. By 1940, the WPA had come under the direction of the Federal Works Administration (FWA) in a government reorganization of 1939 and its name was slightly altered from "Progress" to "Projects".

The post office in Canoga Park, CA, is graced by a large oil-on-canvas mural by the artist Maynard Dixon, painted in 1941. The mural was commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts of the Federal Works Agency (which had previously been part of the Treasury Department). Titled "Palomino Ponies," the mural depicts several galloping horses and a rider.  Dixon was one of the most well-known painters of the American West. "Palomino Ponies"—Dixon's last public mural project—is registered as a National Landmark by the National Historical Society. Note: Established in 1939, the Section of Fine Arts succeeded the Treasury Section of Painting and...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park on the central California coast, developing it for public recreational use after the state parks commission acquired the land in 1933.  The enrollees worked out of Camp Big Sur from 1933 to 1941.  We believe Camp Big Sur was located either at the present Main Campground or at the Group Picnic Area. The CCC built campgrounds, picnic areas, a campfire center, and several stone restrooms (comfort stations). They also constructed the main lodge with a post office and cabins.  To this, they added a park headquarters and administration...