Federal Building and Post Office - San Pedro CA

City:: San Pedro, CA
Site Type:: Post Offices, Federal Facilities
New Deal Agencies:: Treasury Department, Federal & Military Operations
Designers:: Louis A Simon - Supervising Architect, Neil Mielnick
Quality of Information:: Good
Marked:: Yes
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

The Federal Building and Post Office in San Pedro, CA was built in 1936 by the Treasury Department. 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 over the wall at the south end of the building depicting the harbor area’s heritage, is a New Deal art project.

The building was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

(The funding for this project did not come from either the PWA or WPA, as stated in other sources – a common mistake)