Murals Sites

The historic post office in Waverly, Ohio houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Arrival of the Packet," a Treasury of Fine Arts-commissioned mural by Roy Best. The work was completed and installed in the post office lobby in 1942.

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.

The Wayzata post office contains a Section of Fine Arts mural in tempera by Ruth Grotenrath "Wayzata (Pines of the North)." Painted in 1947, it was one of the last examples of New Deal murals created.

The post office contains a 1939 Section of Fine Arts mural by Oscar Berninghaus entitled “Terminus of the Railroad, 1898-1901." The railroad ended at Weatherford from 1898-1901 and this work depicts the station, a train engine, and surrounding covered wagons and horses. It depicts the flat western plains of Oklahoma in the area with sparse trees in the background. Oscar Berninghaus was born in St. Louis, MO and was largely self taught, though he attended class part-time at Washington University. Growing up painting the levee in St. Louis, he absorbed tales of the old West and travelled to Colorado and New Mexico,...

This mural entitled "The First White Man in South Dakota" was painted by Irvin Shope in 1939 under the auspices of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

"Settlers in Collingsworth County" (1940) by Bernard Arnest The artist wrote that he wanted to "show settlers on the Texas Plains engaged in fundamental activities of opening and using new land: building shelter, sowing, planting."  

Oil on canvas entitled "The Rural Mail Carrier" painted in 1937 by Peter Rotier who also painted a mural for the Mayville WI post office.

The historic post office building in West Haven, Connecticut houses an example of New Deal artwork: a Treasury Section of Fine Arts-commissioned mural, entitled "Fording of the West River to Settle West Haven." The work was painted in 1938 by Elizabeth Shannon Phillips. The mural "depicts an assortment of colonial settlers, most probably leaving the New Haven Colony proper to settle the land to the west. Men and work animals struggle to drag carts through the water, and a saintly mother and child epitomize the religious underpinning of the settlement." (https://murallocator.org)

The post office houses the mural "View From the Palisades – West New York 1939" painted by William Dean Fausett in 1939 under the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

Olive Nuhfer painted this oil-on-canvas mural, entitled "The Daily Mail," in 1937 with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Created for the then-new Westerville post office, it has since been relocated to USPS's current operation. From the Pittsburgh Press, December 19, 1937: A cool reception was accorded the mural painted by Olive Nuhfer, Pittsburgh artist, for the village of Westerville, O., where it has been installed in the post office, under a Government art project. Commented "Public Opinion," the community newspaper: "The painting is well done, but it seems to us that the artist had in mind a street scene...

The post office contains a Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Outdoor Sports" painted by Sol Wilson in 1942.

The historic post office in Wewoka, Oklahoma houses New Deal artwork. The oil-on-canvas mural, entitled "Historical Background of Wewoka," was completed by Marjorie Clarke and installed in the post office lobby in 1941, where it is still viewable today. The mural shows a group of horsemen with wagons on the prairie.

The post office contains a Section of Fine Arts funded oil painting titled "First Landing at Weymouth" hangs in the lobby. It was painted by Guy Pene du Bois in 1942.

The historic post office building in Whitehall, New York houses an example of New Deal artwork: a Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Settlement of Skenesborough," painted by Axel Horn in 1939.

The historic post office in Hastings, Minnesota houses an example of New Deal artwork: a Section of Fine Arts-commissioned mural entitled "Arrival of Fall Catalouge." There are two panels that complete the mural, one in the PO box lobby and one in the window lobby.  

Mitchell Jamieson painted this oil on canvas mural, entitled "The Roundhouse," in 1941, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. From the Willard Times, March 27, 1941: "A beautiful mural entitled 'The Roundhouse at Willard,' depicting railroad employes repairing locomotives, now adorns the north wall of Willard’s post office.  It was placed there Friday and painted by Mitchell Jamieson, artist of Washington, D. C., who painted it for the Federal Works Agency, Public Building Administration, Washington as a government project. The painting done on canvas is seven by fourteen feet and shows men working on three locomotives in various...

"First Flight of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk" Medium: oil on canvas, 1940 Phillip Von Saltza, painter Von Saltza's painting was selected from a pool of 1,475 entrants. The painting, in the post office in this eastern North Carolina town, commemorates the Wright brothers' first experiment with flight, which happened just around 100 miles away in Kitty Hawk.

This painting "In the Soil Is Our Wealth" by Raymond Breinin was completed with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds in 1938.

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 post office contains a 1938 Section of Fine Arts mural by H. Louis Freund entitled "Agriculture and Varied Institutes." The mural is a triptych centered on a monumental farmer working behind a plow pulled by 2 powerful horses.  He is moving away from the viewer, consumed by his labor, not by the surroundings.  In the left panel, a steam shovel dominates the scene, surrounded by trucks all of which dwarf the men in the front center.  The idyllic chicken farm scene in the right panel has precisionist elements, but the young boy feeding the chickens embodies a peaceful time and...

The 1940 oil-on-canvas mural, "Cattle Round-Up," by Polly Duncan depicts several cowboys guiding cattle into a shed while the bulk of the herd is being driven in from the broad expanse of the Nevada landscape.  It is a typical New Deal era post office mural in that it depicts a theme from the locality and its history and is done in American Regionalist style. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts funded this mural, probably at the same time as the old post office was expanded in 1940.   The mural at the former post office was moved to the city's modern post...

Like many New Deal post office murals, Auriel Bessemer’s oil painting, “Industrial Tapestry,” depicts a pastoral landscape, fusing the agricultural world with the industrial and perhaps portraying the influence of Roosevelt’s rural electrification programs in South Carolina's cotton and tobacco fields. The mural’s title might allude to the ways in which the textile industry was woven into the fabric of South Carolina’s sprawling farmland. In a journal entry dated 12 December 1938, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote after seeing another post office mural: “I think these post offices are making the country more and more conscious of decorative, artistic values.”   (https://www.bethesdanow.com)

The historic Winsted post office contains a federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts-funded mural entitled "Lincoln's Arbiter Settles the Winsted Post Office Controversy." The oil-on-canvas work was painted in 1938 by Amy Jones.

Andrew Winter painted this oil-on-canvas mural, entitled "New Hampshire Sugar Camp," in 1938 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It is viewable in the lobby of the Wolfeboro post office.

The post office contains a 1937 Section of Fine Arts mural by Archibald Motley entitled "Stagecoach and Mail." Project Description: Unusual work in that it is more of an easel-type painting that is placed in the post office. The scale is excellent and has interesting non-representational elements such as the tree roots and the tree branches. The rear wheels are oversized in relation to the remainder of the coach. Archibald Motley was born in New Orleans of Creole and African American ancestry. His family moved to Chicago, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. He devoted his work to portraying Black subjects...

New Deal mural entitled "Cycle of Development of Woodstock" painted by Bernadine Custer in 1940.

The historic post office in Wrangell, Alaska houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Old Town in Alaska," commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Austin Mecklem and Marianne Appel (husband and wife) painted the Wrangell mural in 1943 in NY state. It was shipped via railway on Oct 19, 1943 and arrived in Wrangell AK early December 1943. A telegram dated October 20, 1943 stated the Mr. Arnold Prusi installed the mural the previous week."

Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Cotton Pickers" painted by Ethel Magafan in 1940 for the Wynne, Arkansas post office. "Ethel Magafan was commissioned for $560 to create a mural for Wynne, Arkansas as a result of an Honorable Mention in a Section of Fine Arts competition. She visited town and composed numerous sketches of the people as they worked in the cotton fields. Magafan installed the mural with the help of her twin sister Jenne. The color sketch for the composition was exhibited at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the black and white cartoon was displayed at the...

The post office contains a 1941 Section of Fine Arts mural by Axel Horn entitled “Yellow Springs-Preparation for Life Work.” This mural depicts a young man laboring at the edge of a field, having just cut down a large tree with the axe at his side. He is sitting on the tree reading a book with a hat and sports coat with a transept close by. This is a locally inspired mural from Antioch College which had a well-known co-op program where students would take 5 years to graduate with a liberal arts education, but would alternate classroom study with work...

The historic post office in Yerington houses an example of New Deal artwork: an oil-on-canvas mural entitled "Homestead on the Plain." The 1941 Adolph Gottlieb work was commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts.

The mural "The Run—April 22, 1889" was completed in 1941 with New Deal funds. Painted for the town's historic New Deal post office building, the mural has since been relocated to the current postal facility in Yukon.

A Section of Fine Arts fresco, “Quakers and the Site of Adams,” painted by Helen Rubin Stoler in 1940, hung in the lobby but has since been destroyed.

The historic post office in Girard, Ohio housed an example of New Deal artwork: "Workers of the Soil," a mural by John E. Costigan. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Unfortunately, the 1938 mural no longer exists; it has since been destroyed.

The historic former post office housed an example of New Deal artwork: "Local Industries," a 1937 fresco by Paul Ninas. The work was commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts. Unfortunately it has since been destroyed.

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.

Now the Pease Federal Building, what was then the new post office in Medina, Ohio housed an example of New Deal artwork: "Gathering the Apple Crop," an oil-on-canvas mural by Richard Zoellner. Completed in 1938, the mural has unfortunately since been destroyed.

The historic post office in Millburn, New Jersey housed an example of New Deal artwork: "Revolutionary Engagement at Bridge in Millburn–1780," a mural painted by Gerald Foster in 1940. The work, which was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, has unfortunately since been destroyed.

The historic post office in Rosenberg, Texas housed an example of New Deal artwork: by William Dean Fausett. The mural, entitled "La Salle’s Last Expedition," was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Completed in 1941, the work had been installed in the post office lobby. Unfortunately, the mural has since been destroyed.

The historic post office in Short Hills, New Jersey housed an example of New Deal artwork: "Short Hills Landscape," an oil-on-canvas mural painted by Ernest Lawson in 1939. The work, which was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, has unfortunately since been destroyed.