Post Offices Sites

The Federal Building and Post Office in San Pedro, CA, was built in 1936 by the Department of the Treasury. It also formerly served as a U.S. Customs Office. The design is a good example of the Moderne style of architecture. The extensive use of marble, bronze and milk glass are typical of the Art Deco style of decoration of the time. The basket weave pattern of floor tile surrounded by black marble gives the effect of rugs on a marble floor. Some of the original bronze lamps and ink wells survive at the public writing desks. The mural at the south...

The historic Elk City, Oklahoma Federal Building / post office was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building was completed in 1936 and now houses the Elk City Board of Education.

The former Phoenix Federal Building and Post Office (now owned by ASU) was designed by Phoenix architectural firm Lescher and Mahoney in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Construction had begun in 1932, before the advent of FDR's presidency (and thus prior to the New Deal); however, the building bears a 1935 cornerstone, which places it well within the time of FDR! Wikipedia explains: "A site was chosen in 1931 and Phoenix architects Lescher and Mahoney were commissioned to design a six-story building that was intended to house all of the federal services in the city. Construction was begun on the foundations....

The historic federal building in downtown Billings, Montana was originally constructed in 1913-4. The building was expanded in 1932 and again in 1940, the latter impacting the "rear central and southern portions of the building" and bringing with it an example of New Deal artwork. NRHP: "The 1940 expansion of the post office, which resulted in the addition of new third floor offices, was first reported on June 23, 1935. Chandler C. Cohagen was selected as the architect for the $200,000 expansion project. Several other Montana cities were included in the appropriation... John Berntson of Salt Lake City completed the construction...

Then the U.S. Post Office and Court House, what is now the Federal Building at 304 E Broadway Ave. was built in 1912-3. The structure was expanded with Treasury Department funds during the New Deal era. Some landscaping details implemented at that time are still in place, as well. A National Register of Historic Places nomination form discusses the building: The federal government constructed this three-story building ... in 1913. ... Upon completion, the Renaissance Revival-style building housed a Federal Post Office and District Court, one of only four such facilities in North Dakota. A three-story rear wing was added in 1937....

The historic Ronald N. Davies Federal Building and United States Courthouse, in Grand Forks, North Dakota, was built in 1906. The structure, which also served as a post office, received a New Deal-era rear extension, financed with Treasury Department funds, completed in 1936.

The Federal Building in Grand Island, Nebraska underwent an extension during the early era of the New Deal. "Supervising Architect of the Treasury James Knox Taylor designed the new post office and federal building in Grand Island, authorizing the final architectural plans in 1908. Workers completed the building, which officially opened on November 26, 1910, at a cost of $108,000. By this time, Grand Island was the third largest city in Nebraska and its economy was thriving. Postal facilities occupied the first floor of the new building, while the second floor held a two-story district courtroom and associated court offices. As its...

The historic Judge Bruce M. Van Sickle Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Minot, North Dakota, was built in 1914-5. The structure, which also served as a post office, received a New Deal-era rear extension, financed with Treasury Department funds, completed in 1940. GSA: "By the 1930s, it became obvious that additional space was needed and a major rear addition was completed in 1940. Specializing in government construction work, the MacDonald Construction Company of St. Louis, Missouri was awarded a $149,293 contract with Louis Boos serving as Construction Superintendent. The Construction Engineer for the U.S. Treasury Department was Walter J. Mark....

The original Missoula post office was completed in 1913 and then expanded during the late 1920s to accommodate the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.  A second extension and annex was made under the New Deal, which was designed by Louis A. Simon of the U.S. Treasury Department and dedicated on October 13, 1937. By that time, the structure was known as the Federal Building. The original building was constructed in the Beaux Arts style, popular in public buildings of the early 20th century, which appears to have been repeated in the 1920s. The 1930s addition was done in...

An extension to the Newport News Federal Building's main structure was built with Treasury Department funds. Construction was completed in 1941. The building, which is still in use, houses New Deal artwork. The original Newport News Federal Building was built in 1904. The building has two entrances. One is on the post office side on 26th street and the other is on the Customs side on 25th street.

The Salisbury Post Office, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, was originally built in the 1920s.  The U.S. Treasury commissioned an expansion of the building circa 1936 “which included a second floor and…an additional two bays on each end of the original five-bay building” (from a Maryland Historical Trust report). The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture also commissioned artist Jacob Getlar Smith to paint three murals for the building circa 1939. “These three murals were commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture at the suggestion of the Wicomico County Historical Society.  The artist took his subject matter...

Today this building is known as the Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building, but a small post office branch is still operating in the building. The building was completed in 1936 and opened in 1937. It was built under the auspices of the Federal Works Program with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funding; the design process was under the direction of the Office of the Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department. "Its construction accomplished several goals--generating employment, housing all federal agencies in a single building, and streamlining San Antonio's quickly expanding postal needs. A skillful example of Beaux-Arts classicism, the U.S. Post Office...

Originally the Harrisonburg United States Post Office and Court House, this Louis A. Simon-designed federal building opened in 1940. The GSA writes that the building "is located at the northeast corner of North Main and East Elizabeth Streets in the historic commercial and institutional center of the city. The building contains five floors, including a full basement and penthouse, and rises to a height of nearly 60 feet above grade. It is cruciform in plan, measuring approximately 104 feet wide from north to south by 142 feet long from east to west. Its masonry exterior features Classical/Colonial Revival detailing with Flemish-bond...

Constructed by the Treasury Department as a federal post office and courthouse in 1938-39. The building is still a functioning courthouse.

The historic federal courthouse and former post office in Tyler was built with Treasury Department funds in 1933. The building, located at the northeast corner of W. Ferguson St. and N. Bois D'Arc Ave. has since been expanded to the east.

Now just a U.S. Courthouse, what was then the courthouse and post office in Sioux Falls, South Dakota was constructed in 1895, with an addition added in 1932. As for the New Deal era, federal funding supplied the building with a new elevator in 1941. Furthermore, a Nov. 1941 Argus-Leader article reported the following: Philip Dean and Harry Johnston of the Dean Engineering and Construction company, Minneapolis, arrived here today to take care of an improvement to be made in the lobby of the Sioux Falls postoffice. The job calls for the replacing of the business windows, counters, and cabinets in...

Terre Haute's historic U.S. Post Office and Court House was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds and completed in 1935. The building has been remodeled by Indiana State University; currently known as Federal Hall, the building houses the Scott School of Business as well as administrative functions.

Columbia College's Federal Hall was originally constructed as a New Deal post office building. The building was home to two New Deal murals that were relocated to other locations over the time that the building was renovated to be the Federal Building. “Pony Express” was eventually moved to the City Council chambers. “Indians Watching Stagecoach in the Distance” was initially retrieved by the demolition team and stored in a barn. It was subsequently placed at the entrance to the Federal Building. Now, both murals are in the National Archives at Kansas City, dedicated May 2010.

The Federal Office Building at 90 Church Street was constructed between 1934 and 1935 by the Treasury Department Public Buildings Bureau, and includes the Church Street Station Post Office. A multi-story addition on top of the building was completed a few years later. It occupies the entire city block bounded by between Church Street and West Broadway and Vesey and Barclay Streets. The architecture spans neo-Classical and Art Deco styles and was designed by a team of Cross & Cross, Pennington, Lewis & Mills, under the direction of Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect of the Department of the Treasury.  The...

Now known as the Billy Sheridan Fire Headquarters Building, what was then Winder's new post office was constructed in 1935 with federal Treasury Department funds. An example of New Deal artwork created for the building has since been relocated.

The historic Flatbush Station post office on Church Ave. in Brooklyn, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds and is still in use today. "It was built in 1936, and designed by consulting architect Lorimer Rich in the Colonial Revival style, for the Office of the Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury. The building is a symmetrical, two-story, red brick building with a gable roof and a large one-story rear wing." (Wikipedia) The building became listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

The Forest Hills Station post office in Queens was built in 1937-8.  It was designed by Lorimer Rich. The single story, flat roofed building is done in Modern or International Style, clad with reddish brown terra cotta above a base of granite. (Wikipedia) Professor Andrew Dolkart of Columbia University School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation says, admiringly, that the "Forest Hills Station is a simple, Modern design. It is basically two cubes that have collided... It is mystery...just how the government chose to fund this project, at a time when most post offices were Colonial Revival." A bas-relief sculpture by Sten Jacobsen is...

The main post office in downtown Newark, NJ—designated the Frank R. Lautenberg Post Office and Courthouse in 2000 by act of Congress—was constructed during the Great Depression. The cornerstone bears the year 1933. The post office occupies the first floor of the building and features a grand lobby.

Constructed in 1937 as the Chapel Hill's main post office, the historic Franklin Street Station post office was constructed with Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, is still in use today.

Nashville's former main post office was built in 1933-34 by the Treasury Department's Office of Construction (later the Office of Procurement).  The enormous structure, filling a city block, was constructed in a record 18 months. The design by architects Marr and Holman is a distinctive "stripped" classicism exterior design (often simply called Classical Moderne). The exterior is white Georgia marble with gray-pink Minnesota granite. The interior is done in the Art Deco Style with cast aluminum doors and grillwork, colored marble and stone on floors and walls. Interior marble included Fantasia Rose and Monte Neva from East Tennessee, Westfield marble from...

This historic federal building (now G. Ross Anderson Jr. Federal Building and Courthouse) in Anderson, South Carolina was built in 1937-8 with Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, no longer houses postal operations but continues to serve as a federal building with modest federal courthouse functions.

Cleveland's historic Glenville Bratenahl Station post office—then known as Station H—was constructed in 1935-6 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. Designed by R. Stanley-Brown, the building is still in service. Short and Stanley-Brown: This postal station serves a rapidly growing commercial district in the northeastern part of Cleveland and also the village of Bratenahl, an exclusive residential area lying along Lake Erie. Its postal receipts approximate $133,000 annually. The lobby is 18 by 51 feet, has a terrazzo floor, a low marble wainscot, and plaster walls and ceiling. The exterior walls are light-red brick trimmed with artificial stone and the building is fire-proof except...

The historic Gwen B. Giles Station post office—also known as Wellston Station (prior to a Congressional renaming)—in St. Louis, Missouri, was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds between 1936 and 1937. The building, which houses a New Deal mural inside, is still in use today.

Houston's historic Harris County District Attorney's Building was constructed as a federal office building and post office during the 1930s. The building, whose construction was funded by the Treasury Department, was completed in 1939. Harris County purchased the building in 1978.

The Henderson County Library in Athens, Texas, also known as the Clint W. Murchison Memorial Library, was constructed in 1935 as the Athens post office. The building has served as a library since 1973.

The historic and grand Hollywood post office was constructed as a New Deal project. The building houses an example of New Deal artwork and is sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (WPA). "In 1937, renowned art deco architect Claud Beelman, then partner at Curlett + Beelman, could not have had any inkling that his WPA commissioned Hollywood Post Office Building, (located at 1615 Wilcox) would end up being a dead letter repository for love letters to such Hollywood luminaries as Clark Gable, Judy Garland, et al."

What is now the Hugo School Administration Office was constructed as the community's post office during the Great Depression. The re-purposed building continues to house New Deal artwork inside.

The historic Inwood Station post office in New York, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1935. It was one of many post offices in Manhattan constructed with federal Treasury Department funds during the New Deal era. The building is still in service.

The historic J. Marvin Jones Federal Building in Amarillo, Texas was constructed as the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse with Treasury Department funds. The building, which was completed in 1938, houses multiple examples of New Deal artwork.

This New Deal federal building, originally the United States Post Office and Courthouse, was constructed in 1936-37 by the Treasury Department under supervising architect Louis A. Simon. It has housed various federal functions, though postal operations have relocated. The building is located back-to-back with the county courthouse.

The Jackson Heights Station post office of Flushing in Queens, New York "is a historic post office building located at Jackson Heights ... The original section was built in 1936-1937, and was designed by architect Benjamin C. Flournoy (1876-ca. 1939) as a consultant to the Office of the Supervising Architect. The original section is a symmetrically massed one story brick building with a nine bay wide principal facade in the Colonial Revival style. It features a three bay entrance pavilion with four simple brick Doric order pilasters which support a limestone triangular pediment. The building was extended four bays to...

The historic Medford, Oregon post office and courthouse was originally constructed in 1916. A rear extension was added in 1940 utilizing Treasury Department funds. Treasury's Procurement Division was responsible for all federal buildings at the time and Louis A. Simon was the supervising architect. The extension was designed to match the original building, but it is clearly visible from the side wall joint, change in the bricks used and the plain roof line. The building is still in use by the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. It was renamed the James A. Redden Federal Courthouse in 1996.

The colossal James Farley Post Office Building, so named in 1982, is home to the Main Post Office of New York, New York. The building was originally constructed in 1912, facing Eighth Avenue; a 1934-6 Treasury Department-funded addition doubled the size of the building and extended it to Ninth Avenue. Hence, the building now occupies two full New York City blocks: 8th to 9th Ave. from 31st to 33rd Street. Today the U.S. Postal Service houses just retail operations at this regal facility—as well as a couple of examples of New Deal artwork—on the 8th Avenue-facing side of the building. With...

The James O. Eastland federal post office and courthouse was constructed in 1933-34. It is a "five-story, limestone, Art Deco interpretation of a classical building" (www.gsa.gov). A new courthouse recently replaced this one, and the Eastland building is now privately owned.

Albany, New York's historic James T. Foley U.S. Courthouse was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds as the city's main post office, courthouse, and custom house. "The architects completed their plans in 1931 and the following year, the government awarded the construction contract to Kenny Brothers, Inc., of New York City. Prominent officials and the public gathered for a cornerstone-laying ceremony on August 18, 1933, and construction was completed in 1934. The building had an exterior bridge connecting the nearby rail station with the post office, which occupied the entire first two floors." (gsa.gov)