Federal & Military Operations Sites

The historic Smithville post office houses an example of New Deal artwork: "The Law—Texas Rangers" (1940), an oil-on-canvas mural by Minette Teichmueller. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The historic South Orange post office houses an example of New Deal artwork: a 1939 Section of Fine Arts mural by Bernard Perlin entitled "Outdoor Activities of South Orange."

Harvesting is a post office mural completed by Joseph Meert in 1940. The mural is located in the city of Spencer. The size of the mural is 14' x 5' and the medium is tempera and oil on canvas.

Margaret Martin painted this oil-on-canvas mural, entitled "Indian Hunters and Rice Gatherers," in 1940. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. "Margaret Martin’s mural proposal for the St. James, Minnesota, post office showed Indians gathering wild rice, hunting fowl, and fishing, emphasizing the harmony between the Land of 10,000 Lakes and its earliest inhabitants. Martin took nine months to complete this work, which has hung in its original location at the post office since June 1940. In the mural, a woman uses sticks to harvest the rice from the stalks, while a man hunts birds with his...

Doris Lee completed this oil-on-canvas mural, entitled "Georgia Countryside," in 1939 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It is viewable in the Summerville post office lobby. dwigmore.com (at a link no longer active): Shortly after winning the Logan Prize for her painting Thanksgiving at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1935, Doris Lee (1905-1983) received her first major commission to execute two murals on rural mail delivery for the Washington DC Post Office. This post office was the grandest mural project of the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts which held national competitions to commission artists based on...

The historic post office building in Wayne, Pennsylvania houses a New Deal mural funded by the Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts. The oil-on-canvas mural "Anthony Wayne," painted by Alfred D. Crimi, was completed in 1941 and is viewable in the post office lobby.

Ross E. Braught painted this oil on canvas mural, entitled "Waynesboro Landscape," in 1942 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It is viewable in the Waynesboro post office lobby.

William Pfohl painted this oil on canvas mural in 1940, entitled "Port of Wilmington," with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It is viewable in the post office library.

The then-new Ladysmith post office received a 1938 example of New Deal artwork: a Section of Fine Arts tempera mural by Elsa Tenne entitled "Development of the Land." The mural has since been painted over.

The Whittier post office formerly held a tempera mural, "Boy with Sheep," painted by Thomas Laman in 1938 with funding from the Section of Fine Arts and the Treasury Relief Art Project. It has since been painted over.

Richard Zoellner painted these three oil on canvas murals--"Agriculture," "Fort Hamilton," and "Industries of Hamilton"--in 1934 with funds provided by the federal government. They are viewable in the Hamilton post office lobby.

Alexander J. Kostellow painted these oil-on-canvas murals, entitled "Battle of Bushy Run" and "Glass Industry," in 1938, based on designs by Frank T. Olson and funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. They are viewable in the Jeannette post office lobby. "THE POST OFFICE MURAL in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, was the design of one artist and the product of another. The Battle of Bushy Run was originally conceptualized, researched and drawn by T. Frank Olson , who died only days after his designs were approved by Washington, DC. The son of Norwegian immigrants, T. Frank Olson travelled to Bergen, Norway in...

  John W. de Groot painted these three oil on canvas murals--"Battle of Little Raft Swamp," "Coming of the Scots," and "Peace--Work and Knowledge"--in 1941 for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. They are viewable in the Red Springs post office lobby.

The Post Office in Ford City houses a New Deal artwork titled "Glass Making" by Josephine Mather. The ivory colored bas relief was made using Carrara structural glass.

The post office in Gardena, CA, is home to a carved mahogany relief by Rudolph Parducci. Titled "Rural Life," the relief depicts a farm scene with a family, chickens, and horses. The project was funded by the Section of Fine Arts (SFA) under the newly-created Public Buildings Administration. Established in 1939, the Section of Fine Arts succeeded the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture (1934-1938) and the Treasury Section of Fine Arts (1938-1939) in overseeing artworks created to enhance public buildings, notably post offices.

The historic post office in Girard, Pennsylvania houses an example of New Deal artwork: a wood relief entitled "Vacation Time." The work was created by Janet De Coux in 1942. Commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts, the relief is currently in storage.

The historic post office in Spencer, West Virginia houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Pastoral of Spencer," a plaster of paris relief created by Vicken von Post Totten in 1938. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The Terra Cotta relief entitled "Shoemakers of Stoneham" was carved by William Zorach as a part of the New Deal Section of Fine Arts program funded by the Treasury Department. “ depicts three men diligently working away constructing shoes. Around them are the tools of their trade: knives, awls, lasting hammers, thread, leather, wooden lasts, pincers, stirrups and lapstones…” “In selecting a theme for the new Post Office in Stoneham, William Zorach chose to celebrate the skilled artisans of Stoneham's pre-industrial past. The three shoemakers depicted in the wall sculpture above the Post Master's door hearken back to a time when...

The historic Hammonton post office houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Harvest," a sculpture created by Spero Anageros in 1940. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Unfortunately, the sculpture is missing.

The historic downtown post office in Covington, Kentucky, is home to three sculptures: Carl L. Schmitz's 1940 limestone sculptures, "Horsebreeding" and "Tobacco," and Romuald Kraus's 1942 bronze sculpture, "Justice," all completed with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

Nina de Brennecke created three carved mahogany bas relief sculptures: "Peaches," "Dewberries," and "Drilling," in 1942 with funds provided by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts. They are viewable in the lobby of the historic Hamlet, North Carolina post office.

Prado Dam outside Corona, CA was constructed between 1938-41 by the Army Corps of Engineers. The dam is located at the confluence of the Santa Ana River, Chico Creek, Cucamonga Creek, and Temescal Wash. Following devastating floods in the Los Angeles Area in the 1930s, initiatives for flood control projects were put forward. Although not in Los Angeles County, one of these project proposals was for Prado Dam, situated in Riverside County near the city of Corona. The Prado Dam project became of extreme importance after a devastating flood on March 3rd, 1938 when the Santa Ana River broke its...

Stefan Hirsch painted this oil on canvas mural, entitled "Scenic and Historic Booneville," in 1943, in what was then the Booneville post office, with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. The mural is viewable in the lobby.

The gorgeous Art Deco former post office in Princeton, West Virginia was built in 1934-5 with Treasury Department funds. Construction experienced early setbacks arising from funding issues. The building's dedication took place on October 5, 1935. In 1935 landscaping bids were sought, to wit: "The bids are for furnishing labor and materials, seeding and planting the grounds. Eight red bud trees, four Chinese elms, two white fringe trees, 12 mock orange trees and Japanese barberry hedge are to be planted." Since August 28, 2010 the historic facility has served a second life as the Princeton Public Library. It is now listed on...

Haleyville, Alabama's historic public library building was constructed as the community's post office with federal Treasury Department funds in 1939. The city has utilized the building as the community's library since the post office moved out in 1970. The building also houses a New Deal mural, presently in questionable condition.

The public library building in Upper Marlboro used to be the town Post Office, built in 1936 – one of  1,100 post offices built by the U.S. Treasury Department as part of the New Deal.  Today, it serves as the Upper Marlboro branch of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System.  The building is a good example of  the Colonial Revival style of architecture used often in the eastern states under Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect for the Treasury Department.  A large mural painted for the post office by local artist Mitchell Jamieson still hangs on its interior west wall. 

The stately former post office in downtown Jacksonville, Alabama was constructed in 1940 with Treasury Department funds. The structure is made from white Alabama marble. The building presently serves as Jacksonville's public library.

The mural "Reforestation" was commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts under the Treasury Department and installed in what was the Haleyville AL post office in 1940. It was painted in an unusual medium--egg tempera on gesso. The city took over the building in 1970 when a new PO was built. The mural was painted over several times. The building eventually became the Haleyville Public Library, but the mural remains covered.  An art restorer has confirmed that it is extant, but there funds are not available for restoration.

The historic Purcell Station post office in downtown Plymouth, Michigan was constructed with Treasury Department funds in 1936. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, is now privately owned. Sale of the building and the relocation of retail operations was initiated in 2013.

What is now Sand Island consists of mostly reclaimed land. During the early 20th century it was known as Quarantine Island. Substantially enlarged during the F.D.R. era prior to World Was II, on it was the federally managed U.S. Quarantine Station, which was likewise expanded with an array of new buildings during the 1930s using Treasury Department funds. (The island has been significantly expanded since that time as well.) A large block of new construction was undertaken in 1938-9: "Five new buildings were completed and equipped at the quarantine station---a hospital detention building with 23 bedrooms, 2 dining rooms, and a kitchen; a 10-room attendants' quarters; a large...

A small town built for the purposes of housing the "clerks, engineers, draftsmen, technicians, and laborers building the Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Project, the world’s largest tidal dam. The site was originally the George Rice farm, on the Old Toll Bridge Road and Route 190."   (https://penobscotmarinemuseum.org) "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Quoddy dam project began officially on July 4, 1935. It was estimated that 5,000 workers were needed for the project, and Eastport lacked housing. A model village, named Quoddy, was built three miles from the center of Eastport. It consisted of 128 single family, two-family, and four-family houses; three large...

The historic former post office in Quincy, Florida was constructed in 1935 with Treasury Department funds. Ground was broken on Jan. 18, 1935. The building served as the post office until the late 1990s; now, it houses Quincy's police department as the R.D. Edwards Building.  

As part of war efforts, "on 26 February 1941, the FCC received funding to launch the 'Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service,' the first name for FBIA. The service began its monitoring duties at 316 F Street, NE. On 1 October, FBIS opened its first bureau outside Washington---in a farmhouse at 13005 NE Street in Portland, Oregon---to monitor Japanese broadcasts." (Inside CIA) The federal facility was constructed with Treasury Department funds. "On 17 September 1941 Graves announced that 20 persons were being transferred to Portland to set up a new monitoring station. Included in the 2 were the three Japanese and one...

The first Washington DC airport was built during the New Deal.  Long known as National Airport, it was renamed for former President Ronald Reagan in 1998. Most locals still refer to it by its former name. Construction began in 1938, after "President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced at a press conference that he was 'tired of waiting for Congress' to select a site for the new airport and said that it would be built on mudflats on a bend of the Potomac River at Gravelly Point, 4 miles south of the District of Columbia." (Airport Authority website) Several federal agencies were involved in...

The Treasury Department funded the construction of the U. S. Post Office and Federal Building. The Art Deco structure was built in 1935 at the cost of more than $225,000. The architect of record was Louis A. Simon of the Public Works Branch, Procurement Division of the United States Treasury. The contractor of record was Farnell A. Blaire. Inaugurated in 1937, the building houses an example of New Deal artwork. The structure's linear ornamentation is typical of the Art Deco style of that era. According to the Richmond County Historical Society, "The three-story orange brick building (which also has a basement) is ornamented by unglazed terra-cotta...

This ceramic panel is at the west entrance of the Rincon Annex.  We have no information on the artist and provenance of this piece.

The former Rincon Annex post office (now Rincon Center) has an extraordinary set of murals, 27 large panels along the upper wall of the lobby of the old post office.  They tell the "History of California" from the Spanish conquest of California to the founding of the United Nations in the city at the end of the Second World War. These murals are the work of Anton Refregier, an artist with a leftist bent and a strong streak of independence.  They are an astonishing accomplishment in terms of scale, historical vision and artistic style, which is quite unlike most mural art of...

This former San Francisco post office, originally known as the Rincon Annex, was built in 1939-40 and served as the major package transfer center through the city's port – then the largest on the West Coast.  The building was paid for by the Treasury Department and designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood in the Streamline Moderne style. The detail work, inside and out, is exceptional.  The exterior scrim features repeated dolphin bas-reliefs and carved eagles across the facade.  The exterior windows and doors are beautiful  examples of the Art Deco love of cast aluminum.  The interior lobby is done in green...

The monumental Moderne-style Robert N. C. Nix Federal Building, sometimes known as the William Penn Annex, was constructed under the auspices of the federal Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1937 and 1941. Its exterior features multiple examples of New Deal artwork. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. However, according to Mary Manfredi, the building is not listed on the Philadelphia Register and "it is not legally protected from alterations or demolition."    

In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the US Army Corps of Engineer constructed two rock jetties at the mouth of Ballona Creek that extended into the Pacific Ocean in Playa Del Rey, CA. They also constructed a riprap protected channel from the Pacific Ocean to Inglewood Blvd.