- City:
- Richmond, CA
- Site Type:
- Civic Facilities, Federal Facilities, Post Offices
- New Deal Agencies:
- Federal & Military Operations, Treasury Department
- Completed:
- 1938
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The post office in the old downtown of Richmond, CA was built by the Treasury Department in 1938. It is an elegant example of Moderne (Art Deco) architecture of the age.
Richmond’s downtown, including buildings around the post office, was cleared away by the city’s massive (and ill-considered) urban renewal program of the 1960s. Then, the interior of the post office was gutted in a 1976 renovation. Happily, the exterior retains its original appearance.
In 2017, the USPS threatened to close this post office, but popular protest led the city of Richmond to protest and the branch remains in operation. It future is uncertain as of the end of 2018.
Source notes
Cornerstone.
Richmond Museum of History website.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/08/23/richmond-post-office-closure-not-a-done-deal-mayor-congressman-say/
Site originally submitted by Shaina Potts on August 14, 2011.
Additional contributions by Richard A Walker.
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Mareatha Hamilton-Baker
Kat Morgan
As a small child growing up in Richmond, CA I remembered the WPA mural from trips to the post office with my mother. After watching a program about these murals I wondered if the one I remembered still existed and to my surprise it has been found and is in a safe place.
Thank you all so much for the recovery and preservation of our city’s history.
(Editor’s note: the mural is, in fact, Treasury Section of Fine Arts, not WPA)
From August 25, 2023: “The Richmond Museum of History & Culture (RMH&C) welcomes everyone to the unveiling of the fully restored “Richmond Industrial City.” The mural was completed in 1941 by renowned artist Victor Arnautoff and had not been viewed for nearly four decades until it was unearthed in the basement of Richmond’s main post office in 2015.
The restored mural’s unveiling will take place Saturday, Sept. 30, from noon to 2 p.m. at the museum located at 400 Nevin Ave. Evelyn Santos, executive director of the museum, anticipates a “festive afternoon with refreshments, hors d’oeuvres, and small talk.”
“We are really excited about this event for multiple reasons,” Santos said. “First, this will be the museum’s first fundraiser in about four years, and second, this restoration process has taken the great majority of eight years. After so much anticipation, we can finally show her off to the public which brings us great joy. After all, great art must be seen and enjoyed.”
The mural was originally commissioned through the New Deal initiative under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 with funds from the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project, according to Santos. It was assigned to painter Victor Arnautoff, who was tapped to create murals for a number of U.S. Postal Service locations across the country, including Richmond.”
https://richmondstandard.com/richmond/2023/08/25/richmond-museum-sets-date-to-unveil-restored-victor-arnautoff-mural/