Federal & Military Operations Sites

The Lakeview Station post office was constructed by the Treasury Department sometime between 1933 and 1937. The date on the cornerstone is too worn to read.  But Henry Morgenthau, Jr.'s name is still legible on the cornerstone and he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by FDR in 1933.  A New Deal mural was installed in the building in 1937, so construction was presumably finished that year.

The historic Lamb County Library building in Littlefield, Texas was constructed as the city's post office in 1940 with federal Treasury Department funds.

Langston Terrace Dwellings, opened in 1938, was the first U.S. Government-funded public housing project in Washington and the second in the nation.  Initial funding came from the Public Works Administration (PWA); later the U.S. Housing Authority stepped in to complete the job. The International Style complex was designed by African-American architect Hilyard Robinson, a native Washingtonian. It embodies Robinson's belief in the ability of fine buildings and art to inspire and uplift residents. Langston Terrace is well known for its artworks.   Five large animal sculptures by Hugh Collins, Lenore Thomas and Joe Goethe double as climbing structures in the children's playground. The Washington...

Langston Terrace Dwellings, opened in 1938, was the first U.S. Government funded public housing project in Washington and the second in the nation.  Initial funding came from the Public Works Administration (PWA); later the U.S. Housing Authority stepped in to complete the job. The International Style complex was designed by African American architect Hilyard Robinson, a native Washingtonian. It embodies Robinson's belief in the ability of fine buildings and art to inspire and uplift residents. Langston Terrace is enhanced by its artworks. Daniel Olney's terra-cotta frieze, "The Progress of the Negro Race",  lines the central courtyard and chronicles African American history from enslavement...

This building was constructed as the town post office by the Treasury Department in 1939. Purchased and used as the City Hall from the 1960's to 2006, the building is still owned by the City of Lee's Summit but is on a short-term lease to ReDiscover, a mental health organization, for offices. With the passage of a recent bond issue, the City will be turning the structure over to the Lee's Summit Historical Society for use as a museum. -Denise Chisum, City Clerk for the City of Lee's Summit

The historic Lenox Hill Station post office in New York, New York is located on East 70th Street, between 2nd Ave. and 3rd Ave. It was one of many post offices in Manhattan constructed with federal Treasury Department funds during the New Deal era. The post office was initially known as New York, New York’s Station ‘Y’ until its redesignation as Audubon Station on Feb. 1, 1947. The building’s cornerstone dates an initial stage of construction to 1935. The building is still in service.

Originally constructed as the Osborn (later renamed Fairborn) post office, this New Deal building was constructed in 1940 and now houses Fairport's public library. An example of New Deal artwork created for the building has been relocated to the community's current post office.

The historic Stephenville Public Library building was originally constructed as the city's post office. The building, which was funded by the Treasury Department, was built in 1935. The architects of record were Mark Lemmon and Louis A Simon.

The historic former post office building in Floral Park, New York was constructed with Treasury Department funds by way of the Public Works Administration (P.W.A.). The building presently serves as the Floral Park Public Library. Postal operations have been moved to a new facility a few hundred feet down Tulip Ave. Short and Stanley-Brown: Floral Park is a residential community in Nassau County on Long Island, on the eastern edge of New York City. Its population in 1930 was 10,016, and its postal receipts for 1935 were $47,624. The building is 84 by 90 feet in plan and is one story and part...

The historic former post office building in Cocoa, Florida was constructed in 1939 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building is now home to the State Headquarters of the Florida Historical Society.

"This building, which was built in 1938 as a post office in the New Deal project, PWA (Public Works Administration), is the home of a beautiful Peter Hurd mural which is on the front exterior of the building. In Alamogordo, under the Art-in-Architecture program titled, 'Sun and Rain,' Peter Hurd painted one of New Mexico's most beautiful frescos in 1942, around the entrance to the building. The central part of the fresco is flanked by two smaller frescos, 'Sorghum' and Yucca.'" The structure is now a county building in Alamogordo. -Treasures on New Mexico Trails The previous Post Office is listed in the National...

Originally built as the Lincoln Park Post Office and constructed by the Treasury Department in 1938, the building now houses the Lincoln Park Historical Museum.

The Lincoln Park Station post office was constructed in 1935-36.  The Treasury Department was in charge of building federal facilities and post offices at the time, but occasionally received funds for projects from the Public Works Administration (PWA), as in this instance. The Moderne-style building clad in buff-colored brick and has three tall window openings on each side of the entrance, which is recessed with a convex window over the door.  The post office was still in operation in 2024, but, unfortunately, there appears to be no access to the interior beyond a cramped desk just inside the entrance. A report on...

This historic Logan Square Station post office in Chicago, Illinois was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1933. The building is still in service.

The Public Works Administration funded construction work at the London Locks and Dam on the Kanawha River, approximately 25 miles south of Charleston. The project was authorized through the River and Harbor Act of 3 July 1930. The Cost of construction was $3,269,800. The locks became operative in September 1933 and were completed in May 1934. The locks contain two parallel lock chambers. The project is currently operated by the Army Corps of Engineers.

In 1940, the Treasury Department funded the construction of a U.S. Post Office - Terminal Annex in Los Angeles, CA. Designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood in a Mission Revival style, the building served as the main mail distribution for Los Angeles until 1989. The inside of the building features terrazzo floors and murals by Boris Deutsch commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA). It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The murals and lobby have been preserved, and the space still functions as a small post office. Renovations were done to the back of the building in...

This set of tempera-on-plaster frescoes in the Post Office Terminal Annex lobby consists of eleven semi-circular lunettes depicting "Cultural Contributions of North, South and Central America." The murals were painted by Boris Deutsch and funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and completed in 1944. "The mural series entitled “The Cultural Contributions of North, South and Central America” in the Los Angeles Terminal Annex Post Office was painted in the early 1940s by Boris Deutsch. While the murals depict a number of indigenous North and South Americans, Mr. Deutsch himself was originally from Lithuania. . . "In 1939, he received a...

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Army Corps of Engineers constructed a concrete wall channel in the Los Angeles River between Soto St. and Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA. The Los Angeles Times reported that "2400 WPA workers . . . deepened the bed of the river from eight to ten feet, paved a channel 270 feet in width, and constructed thirty-feet reinforced concrete walls on each side." This project was part of a larger flood control project on the Los Angeles River in response to damaging flooding throughout the 1930s.

The former Los Prietos Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was established in 1933 and located in the Los Padres National Forest in the mountains behind Santa Barbara CA. Today, it serves as a juvenile correctional camp for boys.

The Army Corps of Engineers and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed site and infrastructure work at the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa FL. Formerly known as Southeast Air Force Base, it was originally built to protect American interests in the Caribbean. It quickly was used to train pilots, maintenance personnel, and other technicians to support combat. Its current mission is refueling. The WPA completed initial site work after the land was acquired. "The WPA funds and labor were used to clear and grade the site, install drainage, build roads, erect fencing, lay railroad tracks, and install sanitary systems." (HABS No....

The Madison Square Station post office in New York, New York "was built in 1935, and designed by consulting architects Lorimer Rich for the Office of the Supervising Architect." (Wikipedia) It was one of many post office constructed in Manhattan during the New Deal era. Professor Dolkart of Columbia University School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation tells us that "Madison Square Station is a Modern Classical structure with an important interior layout, modeled after that of a bank (it was published in the architectural press at the time)." (Dolkart) Wikipedia states that "...the building is a two-to-three story building clad on its main...

The historic main post office building in Bridgeport, Connecticut was completed in 1937 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses multiple works of New Deal artwork in its lobby, is still in service.

Also known as the Clifton Merriman Post Office, the main post office in Cambridge, Massachusetts—originally a branch of the Boston post office—was constructed with federal funds in 1934-5. It was designed in Classical Revival style with Art Deco influences by architects Leland, James D., & Co.; Baven, John, Co., Inc. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

This two-story neo-classical building of granite and limestone was built by the Algeron Blair Construction Company of Montgomery, Alabama out of thirty bids placed for the project. The building features six over six double hung windows sash windows, pedimental entrance, Greek keys on the lintels. A 1974 brick expansion was built to the east. The Algeron Blair Construction Company also built the low-cost housing project called Littlepage Terrace in west Charleston. The construction began in November 1940. The building opened on June 22, 1942. It was limited in height to two stories because of war-time restrictions, but designed to have three...

Constructed by the Treasury Department, this building was completed in 1935. Placeography describes the building in detail: "The popular Moderne Art Deco style building uses Mankato’s own Kasota limestone and St. Cloud black granite. The building achieves the vertical emphasis typical of the Art Deco style, despite being extremely horizontal, with a striking pattern of three-story window units with decorative relief panels (Koutsky, 2002). Approximately 500 to 700 local laborers and carpenters were summoned to construct the monumental building (Russell, 2003)." Of this building, "Postmaster General James Farley said ... 'Magnificent buildings are memorials of the strength and glory of a...

The historic main post office in Norwalk, Connecticut—originally the South Norwalk post office, though re-designated in 1964—was constructed in 1937-8 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which was designed by Thomas Harlan Ellett, houses multiple examples of New Deal artwork and is still in service.

The historic main post office in Redlands, California was constructed with federal funds.  It was started under the Hoover Administration in 1932, according to the cornerstone, but completed in 1933 after President Roosevelt had taken office -- as stated in the dedication plaque in the lobby.  Therefore, the building is only partly owing to the New Deal.  

The main post office in Santa Barbara was constructed by the Department of the Treasury in 1936.  The building is a superb example of Mission Revival architecture, designed by Reginald Johnson of the Treasury Department.  The handsome lobby remains in its original condition, with classic brass mailboxes, fine cast aluminum grills and pitted marble walls. On the exterior, there is a bas-relief eagle over the entrance and large brass light fixtures. The lobby contains a set of six bas-relief murals by William Atkinson.  

This large post office was constructed with U.S. Treasury Department funding between 1935 and 1937. Note the extensive use of inlaid depictions of postal service, state of the art at the time. Inside, the grillwork is lush as are the center islands where patrons were able to fill out forms, etc.

Formerly Fresno's Main Post Office (and, subsequently, its Downtown Station post office) building presently houses the Fresno United School District Education Center. The building was constructed in 1939 with federal Treasury Department funds. Fresno.gov: The U.S. Post Office building housed the main post office branch, as well as Federal courtroom sand offices, until the mid 1970s. The building is an example of PWA or WPA Modern architecture, which combines elements of classical and modern design. Elements of classicism on this building include the fluted, column-like door surrounds and concrete exterior walls scored to look like masonry blocks, while the asymmetrical plan; spare,...

Originally constructed as Treasury Department project and completed in 1935, Philadelphia's large Art Deco 30th St. post office served the community for many years, before being left vacant in 2006. It has since been converted into a modern office building. "In redeveloping the 862,692-square-foot Art Deco style federal building, Brandywine embraced and rejuvenated its pre-Columbian art and architecture-inspired highlights. The Post Office’s ornate public lobby, known as the "Historic Corridor", featuring two entry rotundas with mosaic domes in a Mayan motif, has been fully restored. The domes, each with 99,816 pieces of glass faience tiles in nine different shades of green...

The Main Post Office in Reno, Nevada, was completed under the New Deal in 1934.  It was begun under the previous administration of Herbert Hoover in 1932, as noted on the cornerstone.  Funding for post offices at the time came from the federal Treasury Department.  Civil Works Administration (CWA) relief workers contributed to the work in the winter of 1933-34. The structure is an elegant example examples of the Art Deco design popular at the time, specifically Zig-Zag Moderne style. The architect was Frederick DeLongchamps and MacDonald Engineering constructed the building, which also housed other of Federal agencies serving Nevada. "The exterior...

The historic former U.S. Post Office, Courthouse, and Customhouse (a.k.a. Main Post Office) in Wilmington, Delaware is located on Rodney Square. "It was designed by Irwin & Leighton in 1933-1935, and building was completed in 1937. It is in the Classical Revival. It is a three-story, cut stone structure with six large stone pillars across the main entrance. the gross building area is 104,669 sq. ft." Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the original building is intact though a modern addition has been added as well. Now privately owned, it now serves as the headquarters for Wilmington Trust. Examples...

Stamford's old main post office (which was later renamed the Atlantic Street Station post office) was constructed 1915-1917 and was a unique design. Additional improvements were made with federal funding in the 1939-41. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1985. It has since been sold to private developers, and is now part of a larger mixed-use development. The NRHP nomination explains: "A major addition was constructed in 1939, to the rear, doubling the size of the facility and providing additional work space. The rear structure is sympathetic in detailing and only slightly less elaborate in...

The historic (and current) main post office in Mount Vernon, New York was originally constructed in 1915. The building received an extension as part of a New Deal project completed in 1937 with federal Treasury Department funds. Work was overseen by contractor Arc Engineering Corp. and consisted of constructing the extension as well as remodeling of the building.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Building was originally constructed for the federal Farm Credit Administration, an agency created by the early New Deal to provide credit to farmers in difficulty and to stimulate investment in the farm sector. It was built between 1938 and 194o, hence started by the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department (which handled federal buildings at the time) and completed by the Public Buildings Administration in the reorganized Federal Works Administration (most of the same staff transferred over to the new administration in the 1939 federal reorganization). The six-story Moderne-style building was designed by noted Berkeley architect,...

Many of the projects of the New Deal involved large scale public works projects that required hundreds of workers. While this type of project was incredibly important to help alleviate widespread unemployment, there was also a belief that the United States should not forsake its cultural heritage. As such, Federal Project Number One was formed as a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to give work to so-called "starving artists," as well as musicians, playwrights, and writers. The Federal Art Project is particularly well known for creating murals in public places across the country. In 1937, artist Umberto Romano...

The Army Corps of Engineers, with funds from the National Industrial Recovery Act, carried out improvements in the Mayagüez Harbor.

The historic former post office in Welch, West Virginia was built in 1936-7 with Treasury Department funds. The building now serves as the McDowell County Courthouse Annex. Per Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Mar. 7, 1937: NEW BUILDING IS OF LATEST DESIGN Concrete And Tile Floors And Stairways Make Building Completely Fireproof; Modern Quarters U. S. Offices Welch's newest and most modern building, the new post office, under construction since July 2, 1936, was officially completed March 1, and will be open for service on Monday morning. J. W. Carroll, superintendent in charge of construction, arrived in Welch on June 15, last year, and two weeks later...

The historic former post office in downtown Marion, North Carolina was built with New Deal funds in 1936. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, has since been expanded and now houses the McDowell County Library.