City Hall (Old Post Office) Expansion – Winnemucca NV

Description

“The Winnemucca MPO [Main Post Office] is a good example of a small town single-purpose post office.

The building’s Neo-Classical design originated from standardized plans developed by the National Office of the Supervising Architect. Winnemucca received one of the few buildings constructed by Uncle Sam in the 1920s. Indeed Winnemucca was only the second Nevada town in the 20th century to receive a federal building (Reno’s original federal building was the first, but has been razed).

In 1940, the building was expanded, and a federally funded mural was commissioned for the lobby. The oil on canvas mural 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.

The Federal Works Agency Section of Fine Arts also funded murals for the post offices in Lovelock and Yerington.

The 1940 addition and the mural symbolize the federal government’s aid to and link with small communities during a period of national economic emergency.”

In 1992, the building was remodeled as a City Hall.  Some of the 1940s glass block design survived the renovation.  Interestingly, however, something on the original cornerstone was erased.