Murals Sites

1938 New Deal frescoes by Eugene Kingman, depicting the agricultural heritage of Prince George's County, decorate the post office lobby. The frescoes are tempera on plaster, and consist of multiple small panels, some oddly shaped.

The Hyde Park NY post office has murals covering all four walls painted by Olin Dows in 1941. Dows called the group of 19 panels, "Professions and Industries of Hyde Park."  He provided a guide to his murals in booklet form (shown below). The project was paid for by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The post office contains 5 oil on canvas panels by Vladimir Rousseff on the topic "Historical Treatment of Mail Transportation in the West." They were produced under both the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP). Two of the panels are pictured here: "Washing and Carrying Gold" and "Fighting Indians."

The historic post office building in Jasper, Florida houses New Deal artwork: two Section of Fine Arts-commissioned tempera frescoes by Pietro Lazzari titled "Harvest at Home" and "News from Afar." They were completed in 1942.

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...

The post office contains a series of TRAP (Treasury Relief Art Project) murals depicting "Scenes of Postal Service, local industries and other activities typical of the community" painted by Frederick Knight in 1937.

This post office contains two Treasury funded murals by Albert Kotin painted in 1938: "The City" and "The Marsh."

The historic post office in Kemmerer, Wyoming houses multiple examples of New Deal artwork: three oil-on-canvas murals painted by Eugene Kingman in 1938. The works, which were commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts, can be viewed in the post office lobby. Their titles are "Cretaceous Landscape," "Tertiary Aquatic Life," and "Excavation," respectively. Annals of Wyoming: In July, 1937, the Section invited Eugene Kingman to submit plans for a set of murals to decorate the post office in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The commission was a small one — $660 — and King- man's earlier work, submitted in competition for work at...

The post office interior features five murals depicting winter sports painted by Henry Billings in 1937.

The historic post office in downtown Lynn, Massachusetts was constructed just prior to the advent of the F.D.R. era; however, the completed building received two oil-on-canvas murals by William Riseman: "Colonial and Contemporary Civic Culture," and "Early and Modern Industries of Lynn," commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. The works, which reside near the ceiling of the post office's high lobby, were completed in 1936.

The Magnolia post office contains three murals by John H. Fyfe, completed and installed in 1939 at a cost of $1,120.00 (Enzweiler, 1993). Under the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts program, Fyfe created "July 4th Celebration" also referred to as "July 4th Celebration at Sheriff Bacof's" in other sources. The local committee commissioned two additional murals based on their satisfaction with the first piece of art. "Cotton Harvest" and "Magnolia, 1880" depicted the cotton industry of Pike County. All three murals were restored in 1992 by Stewart-Treviranus Associates of McLean, Virginia. Fyfe also painted a mural fro the post office...

Edwin Dorsey Doniphan painted two murals for this post office under the New Deal. One is entitled "Past Visions the Future" painted in 1939 by Edwin Dorsey Doniphan. The gentleman in the mural is Mr. Calvin Hill who passed away in 2005. His oxen's names are "Pat" and "Star". The old tannery can be seen in the foreground of the mural. Another is entitled "Mill Point" painted by Edwin Dorsey Doniphan in 1939. The mill still stands on US 219 just south of Marlinton.

The historic Miami Beach post office houses three New Deal murals depicting "Episodes from the History of Florida" painted in 1940 by WPA artist Charles Russell Hardman. (The federal agency that commissioned the works was the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.) "The lobby is a round and in the center is a fountain that appears to be inoperable. Above is an incredible light fixture with sun rays emanating from it against a brilliant teal background. The murals are positioned at the rear of the round space, so my photographs have a pretty funky perspective. Going from left to right, the first...

The post office contains three murals by Dorothea Tomlinson, completed with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funding in 1939. Each mural depicts a different aspect of Mount Pleasant in the forties.

The post office contains three murals by George Biddle painted in 1939 with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds, each depicting a historical scene from the region: "George Washington with De Witt, Geographer of the Revolutionary Army" "Washington Retreating from New Brunswick" "Howe and Cornwallis Entering New Brunswick"

The historic post office in New Rochelle, New York contains three Section murals painted by David Hutchison in 1940. They are entitled "The Huguenots Lay the Foundtions fo the City of New Rochelle," "John Pell Receives Partial Payment for 6,000 Acres," and "The Post Rider Brings News of the Battle of Lexington."

The historic post office building in Norristown, Pennsylvania houses two New Deal murals: "Local Industry" and "U.S. Mail." The works, which were sponsored by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts, were painted by Paul Mays and installed in the post office lobby in 1936.

The historic Northfield post office houses examples of New Deal artwork: one full-size and three medallion murals painted by Charles M. Daugherty in 1939. The murals are respectively titled: "Skiers"; "Agriculture", "Granite", and "Maple Sugar".

Kindred McLeary painted five tempera-on-plaster murals for the Norwalk post office in 1941. The post office was renovated in 1963, leaving three murals "Present Products of South Norwalk;" "Past Products of South Norwalk;" and "Indians Instructing Pioneers in Forest Lore" in what is now the Postmaster's office (not generally accessible to the public). Two other murals—"Old Well," the largest of the original murals, and "Bays and Oyster Fishing"—were destroyed during the renovation.

The post office contains several murals depicting scenes of local history in the colonial period. They were painted by Jacob Getlar Smith with TRAP support in 1936.

"J. Theodore Johnson is best known for the four murals he created for the Oak Park post office in Chicago" (https://americanart.si.edu). The murals were funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts in 1939. Each depicts a historically significant moment in the area's history.

The Ontario post office contains a pair of complementary oil on canvas murals painted by Nellie G. Best in 1940 with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. In counterpart to "The Dream," "The Reality" depicts several men with shovels and other tools in an undeveloped California landscape.

This early 20th century post office contains two tempera murals by Anton Refregier. Painted under the aegis of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, the murals "Folklore of America" and "Quilting Bee" were created in 1942: "The tempera murals are by Anton Refregier, a Russian whose art appeared at the 1939-40 New York World's Fair (a 30-foot mural in the WPA Building), the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. "Folklore" depicts icons of America, such as Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan and John Henry; "Quilting Bee" captures a sense of community as the women bend over their sewing...

The lobby of the post office in Port Chester, New York features a stunning array of four large New Deal murals and nine smaller lunettes. Designed by Domenico Mortellito with Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) funding and installed in 1936, they depict a wide range of human activities, from ship building and fire fighting, to music and baking. (Construction of the Port Chester post office, itself, began prior to 1933, when FDR came into office; as such the building itself is not included on this site.)

The post office itself was started by the Treasury Department in 1932, but may have been completed with New Deal money. The post office contains two 1937 Section of Fine Arts murals by Henry Mattson entitled “The Rocky Coast of Maine” and “The Sea.” These 2 works flank an entrance to the post office, showing the roiling sea, gulls overhead and the rocky coast pictured in “The Sea”. “The Rocky Coast of Maine”, by contrast shows only the land dominated by rock with small shrubs and a lone pine, a work that has elements of abstraction in it. Henry Mattson was born in...

The Poughkeepsie post office has five large murals on the walls depicting local scenes from the 17th to 20th centuries.  Two horizontal murals at either end of the lower lobby are views of Poughkeepsie from across the Hudson in 1839 and 1940; those are by Georgina Klitgaard and Charles Rosen, respectively. On the mezzanine floor are three murals by Gerald Foster. One depicts Pilgrims and Indians on the site of Poughkeepsie in 1692. The second shows the hamlet of Poughkeepsie in 1730 (not shown here).   The third and largest one shows delegates from New York meeting in Dutchess County to ratify...

The post office contains three tempera murals painted by Archie Musick in 1941, titled "Loading Cattle," "Stockade Builders" and "Moving Westward." "Archie Musick, born in Kirksville, Missouri, was a student of Thomas Hart Benton and of Boardman Robinson. In the Red Cloud murals, his elongated forms in motion echo Benton's style rather than Musick's. Musick also completed other post office murals in Colorado and Missouri and in his later years, taught in Colorado. He said that his first two mural commissions were 'scenic pot-boilers on restaurant walls, (which) were happily destroyed by fire.' His first important mural was a 5' x 14'...

  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 Redondo Beach post office contains three oil on canvas murals by Paul Sample that were originally created for the since-demolished post office building at Catalina and Garnet street. The artwork relocated with the post office to its current location in 1977. The murals were painted in 1937 with TRAP funding. The murals depict "Sheep Farming and Ocean Near Redondo," "Excursion Train and Picknickers in the 90s" and "Fishing Redondo Dock".

The Rhinebeck post office contains a series of twelve murals (plus those over the windows) depicting scenes from local history. The murals were painted by Olin Dows in 1940 with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funding.  Dows was a Rhinebeck resident , trained at Vassar College and head of the Treasury Relief Art Program – no doubt brought in by the request of President Roosevelt, who had taken a keen interest in the Rhinebeck post office near his home in Hyde Park.   The artist provided a thorough explanation of all the panels in a pamphlet published in 1940 by the Civic...

The historic New Deal post office in Rockville Centre, New York contains four oil-on-canvas murals by Victor White. The murals are made with cut-out shapes, and are approximately 9 ft. x 7 ft. 10 in. They depict, respectively: a farmer with livestock; a fisherman and wife; harvesting wheat; and carpenters framing a house. They were funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts in 1939.

This post office contains six tempera murals painted in 1942 by Seymour Fogel. Fogel painted these as the winner of one of the 48-State Competition Post Office murals. "In 1939, for example, Seymour Fogel sketched an elegant scene of Southwest Indian dancers for a post office mural in Safford, Arizona. Local Anglos harboring resentful memories of Apache raids, however, deemed Fogel's design an "abomination," and the artist substituted a stereotypical picture of wagon trains and pioneers." (muse.jhu.edu)

The post office contains two murals entitled "Saratoga in Racing Season" painted by Guy Pene du Bois in 1937 under the TRAP (Treasury Relief Art Project). This office is now the Finance Unit, Downtown.

The post office contains two Section of Fine Arts murals by Gordon Samstag titled "Law and Order in Old Scarsdale" and "Caleb Heathcote Buys the Richbell Farm."

The historic post office in Scottdale, Pennsylvania houses examples of New Deal artwork: “Local Life and Industries,” painted by Harry William Scheuch in 1937. The oil-on-canvas works were commissioned by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP).

Schomer Lichtner painted five murals for the Sheboygan Post Office in 1939 under the auspices of the Treasury Relief Art Project.

Construction of the historic post office building in Springfield, Ohio was begun in 1932, prior to the advent of the New Deal. However the building did receive, upon the time of its completion, two examples of New Deal artwork, commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts: “Printing in Springfield,” and a painting depicting the manufacture of farm implements. The works were created by H. H. Wessel and completed in 1937. Springfield Has History writes: "In the 1970’s the post office underwent an energy conservation remodeling which covered up Wessel’s murals and much of the interior’s original detail. In 2009 preservation efforts began to...

The post office contains a series of frescoes by artist Gustaf Dahlstrom. The murals were funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts in 1941. This large set of frescoes was executed by a master of the technique and depicted the rich history of St. Joseph, MO. Blacks are prominently represented, though it is primarily in stereotypical rolls of laborers and singing and dancing. There are some significant condition issues and partial repairs. Gustaf Dahlstrom was born in Gotland, Sweden and immigrated to the United States. He lived primarily in Chicago and worked at the Field Museum documenting wildlife displays.

The Tazewell post office contains two murals by William H. Calfee completed in 1940 with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds.

The post office contains two Section of Fine Arts murals painted by Waldo Peirce in 1939. The murals are entitled "Rip Van Winkle" and "Legends of the Hudson."