Treasury Department Sites

The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center began life as the National Naval Medical Center under the New Deal. Congress appropriated the funds in 1937 and President Franklin D. Roosevelt selected the site in Bethesda, Maryland.   Architect Paul Cret designed a magnificent Moderne building with a tower that still delights (though much obscured by subsequent additions to the complex).  Construction began in 1939.  FDR laid the cornerstone of the famous tower on Armistice Day 1940, and the center opened soon thereafter (probably some time in 1941, not 1940 as most sources say). According to the official Center website, "The President’s vision was to...

Arnold Friedman painted this oil on canvas mural, entitled "Environs of Warrentown," in 1940 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It was originally installed in the Warrentown post office but was removed in the early 1980's because of complaints about the mural's subject matter. The work is now housed at the Augusta Museum Visitors Center.

Naperville's historic Washington Street Station post office was constructed as the city's main post office in 1939-40. The post office now occupies space in the south side of the building, believed to be a later addition; a bank occupies the primary portion of the historic post office structure.

"Watts Bar Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River ... one of nine dams on the main Tennessee River channel operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to provide flood control and electricity and to help create a continuous navigable channel along the entire length of the river. The dam is the technical boundary between the ... Watts Bar Lake— which it impounds— and Chickamauga Lake ..." (Wikipedia)

HistoryColorado details how this early-century post office building is a New Deal project by virtue of a 1940 extension. The three-story Italian Renaissance Revival style building was constructed as a post office in 1918. James A. Wetmore served as the supervisory architect. The walls are of Indiana limestone, and the tall first floor windows are set in rounded arches. A 1940 addition, funded by the PWA, extends from the rear of the building. In 1972, Congress renamed the building in honor of Wayne N. Aspinall who had a distinguished career as a U.S. Representative from Colorado from 1949 to 1973.

This US Treasury building replaced the old building in 1938. Both buildings are now part of the Wenatchee Valley Museum. "As a Depression era public works project, the proposal for replacing the old Federal building drew considerable attention from the local press. In 1933, after three years and in the middle of a series of more than 30 first and second page news articles on the subject, headlines reported 'Hope glimmers for post office building here.' "Plans for the new building were not finalized until late in 1936. Congressman Sam B. Hill secured an appropriation of $305,000 which was estimated as the...

The historic West Farms Station post office in the Bronx, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1936. The building is still in use today.

Originally known as the West Point Bullion Depository, this facility was completed in 1937 with Treasury Department funds. "Prior to its remodel in 2005 that added a second-story, the mint was a 170-by-256-foot one-story reinforced concrete structure with a flat roof. The walls are mostly featureless with some recessed-arches at the entryways. There are four turrets at the corners actively used in the building's security. It is on a four-acre  parcel of land near the northern facilities of the United States Military Academy, with parking lots on either side. The interior contains minting presses and bullion compartments." (Wikipedia)

The historic West Scranton Branch post office building of Scranton, Pennsylvania was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which possesses a New Deal mural in the lobby, is still in use today.

New Haven's historic Westville Station post office was constructed during the Great Depression with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses a New Deal mural, is still in service. Unfortunately the building's cornerstone has been partly obscured by its ADA ramp; thus the date is not presently visible.

What is now known as the William H. Natcher U.S. Courthouse in Bowling Green, Kentucky was constructed as the United States Post Office and Courthouse in 1940-1. Construction was funded by the Treasury Department. The building also houses New Deal artwork.

The Treasury Department funded the construction of the Seattle federal courthouse, which was the first single-purpose federal courthouse on the west coast.  The project was originated in 1936 by the department's Procurement Division and completed in 1940, by which time responsibility for federal facilities had been transferred to the Federal Works Administration, where the old Procurement Division had morphed into the Public Buildings Administration. The design of the courthouse is Moderne, a stripped-down and flattened version of Neoclassical, that was common for public buildings at the time.  The Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department was Louis Simon and Consulting Architect was...

Pensacola, Florida's historic federal building, originally constructed as Pensacola's main post office and courthouse and since renamed the Winston E. Arnow Federal Building, was constructed with Treasury Department funds in 1938-9. The architect was Rudolph Stanley-Brown. Originally Pensacola's main post office, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) operated the Downtown Station post office. In 2024 USPS announced plans to relocate services, and it has ceased operations at the federal building.

The historic Woodhaven Station post office in Jamaica, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds between 1939 and 1940. The building, which contains a New Deal Ben Shahn mural in the lobby, is still in use today.

The historic Woodrum Station post office in Staunton, Virginia was built with Treasury Department funds in 1935. The building houses an example of New Deal artwork.

The Yamhill County Clerk building in McMinnville, Oregon was originally constructed as the town's post office with funds from the Treasury Department during the New Deal. The stately building was constructed in 1935.