- City:
- Yerington, NV
- Site Type:
- Federal Facilities, Post Offices
- New Deal Agencies:
- Treasury Department, Federal & Military Operations
Description
The historic post office in Yerington was constructed in 1938 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, is still in service.
“The Yerington Main Post office is one-story red brick building which rests upon a raised basement platform. The front elevation is flat, symmetrical, and Classically-pro-portioned. Five bays divide the facade: two flat-arched bays and a centered, round-arched entry bay. Sandstone and wood are used for trim details. A copper-clad hipped roof covers the building.
The Yerington Main Post Office is significant on the state level for art and on the local level for architecture and politics/government. An unaltered example of a small-town post office and federal office building, the building’s design, based on standardized plans, is typical of a number of other small town post offices constructed in Nevada, the West, and the nation during the Depression era. The Post Office and the mural it contains represent the efforts of the federal government, through its public works and art programs, to assist communities during a period of economic emergency.”
Source notes
https://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/90000138.pdf
Cornerstone
Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on December 22, 2017.
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Renee Kolvet
A new full service post office has been built on the south end of town, however the old post office still houses dozens of actively used post office boxes. The mural is slightly discolored but remains in good condition.
According to a United States Postal Service historian (2015), post office murals were produced under the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture (later Section of Fine Arts). Often confused with the Works Progress Administration/Federal Art Project, the program was not directed toward providing economic relief but was intended to “boost the morale of people suffering the effects of the Great Depression with art…” (https:about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/new-deal-art.pdf)