Texas Sites

"It is an excellent example of Neo-Classical architecture in a small Federal building. The simple brick building exhibits the Greek elements of Doric columns supporting an unenriched architrave at its main entry. Built in 1935 under the auspices of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Louis Simon, Supervising Architect. After the passage of the Public Buildings Act of 1926, there was an increase in the construction of Federal Buildings in the United States. Public building construction was expanded in the 1930s to provide jobs during the Depression. It was during this period that the courthouse was built. Originally designed for use...

The Treasury Department funded the construction of the Post Office in McAllen TX. Texas Historical Commission Plaque on site: "Built in 1935, this was the sixth location of the McAllen Post Office after its creation in 1907. The facility was dedicated on January 22, 1936, and served as a postal facility until 1957. Since 1958, the building has been used for a variety of purposes, including Federal and city office space. The Spanish colonial revival structure features a baroque frontispiece around the front door, corbelled cornice, and red tile roof. (Text of Historical Marker)" Building cornerstone" "Henry Morgenthau Jr Secretary of the Treasury James A Farley Postmaster...

The historic former post office building in Odessa, Texas was constructed in 1939 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building continued to fulfill civic purposes: it is now occupied by the Ector County Health Department. An example of New Deal artwork created for the former post office lobby has since been relocated to the city's current post office building.

The historic former post office in Seguin, Texas was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1934. The building is now privately owned.

The historic former post office building in Alpine, Texas houses an example of New Deal artwork: "View of Alpine," an oil-on-masonite mural by Jose Moya del Pino. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The historic former post office in Big Spring, Texas (now the 118th District Courthouse) houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Old Pioneers," a fresco by Peter Hurd completed in 1938. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

This former post office still contains a Section of Fine Arts mural "Texas Plains" by Ray Strong. The mural was painted in 1939.

Mural entitled "Oil Fields of Graham" painted by Alexandre Hogue, University of Tulsa Art Professor Emeritus, in 1939. The mural "depicts the area's economic base, oil and natural gas production, and agriculture"(Old Post Office Museum and Art Center, opomac.net). The mural depicts E. S. Graham, the founder of Graham, standing in front of Standpipe Mountain (located in the center of Graham), and oil field workers (Nancy Lorance, American Oil & Gas Historical Society). The mural was painted over during a repaint of the post office, but restored and preserved.

Artist Fletcher Martin painted this Section of Fine Arts oil-on-canvas mural "The Horse Breakers" in 1940 for the Lamesa post office. The post office has since moved, but the mural remains in its original location in what is now a school district office. "'The Horse Breakers' is an oil-on-canvas mural that was painted by artist Fletcher Martin in 1939. During that time, Martin – who reportedly was a self-taught artist – was a visiting teacher in art schools in California. He died in 1979 at the age of 75 in New York City. "Martin was awarded a commission by the federal agency...

Artist Frank Klepper painted this mural “Confederate Company Leaving McKinney” for the McKinney post office in 1934, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts: "The triptych mural depicts a scene in 1864 that was witnessed by the artist’s grandmother on the McKinney Courthouse Square – a block from the museum. Klepper painted his grandmother into the foreground of the main panel. In the mural the mounted men were volunteers for a Confederate spy unit - a group formed by orders from Brigadier General Ben McCulloch. As the men leave – a casket containing the remains of the same General McCulloch...

The oil painting, "Buffalo Hunting," was one of two murals created in 1940 for the then-new former post office building in Livingston, Texas. It depicts an Indian brave on a brown and white pony riding next to a buffalo with his bow ready to shoot. Another buffalo is behind the pony. They are riding across a desert with a hawk flying and a roadrunner in front of the buffalo. According to the plaque below the painting, the artist, Theodore Van Soelen, was funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. (The work is sometimes mis-attributed to the WPA.) The Postal Service...

The four works of art — two sprawling paintings and two smaller, companion pieces — will soon be back on display on the walls of what is now the Kilgore History & Arts Center. The post office to be erected in Kilgore will be one of the city's most modern and attractive buildings according to blue prints of the structure which were received by Postmaster Crown Dickson. The building, one story with a basement half above and half below the ground level, will be of buff-colored brick with white stone decorations. The framework will be of reinforced steel. Estimations showed that...

This plaster relief entitled "Cattle, Oil, Wheat" by Allie Tennant was completed with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds in 1940.

"On the Range," a painted wood carving, was created in 1941 by Enid Bell for the then-new Hereford post office with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. In 1967, a contractor remodeling the post office took this piece home. The GSA tracked it down but kept it in storage for years. It was returned to Hereford in 1973, and "On the Range" is once again housed at the post office. It can be found in the inner, retail lobby.

Texas artist Loren Mozley completed "Emigrants at Nightfall" in 1942 for the Alvin Post Office, also a New Deal Project. After years of storage, it was recently restored with help from a donation from former Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan and his wife Ruth. Today it hangs again in the former post office, now the Alvin Historical Museum.

The historic Anson post office houses an example of New Deal artwork: an oil-on-canvas mural entitled "Cowboy Dance," painted by Jenne Magafan in 1941. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

New Deal mural "Texas Immigrant" painted by Gordon Grant in 1939.

The Canyon, Texas post office mural "Strays," painted by Francis Ankrom, was sponsored by the Section of Fine Arts. The mural, which was completed and installed in 1938, went through multiple iterations of subject matter proposals and sketches before "Strays" was finalized. Project folders at the National Archives in College Park, MD show that Ankrom had sketched the following alternative ideas for the Canyon post office mural: "In Defense of the Mail," "Rout in Palo Duro," and "Onward Texas." These alternative visions are presented below.

The post office in Center, Texas houses an example of New Deal artwork: the mural "Logging Scene" by Edward Chavez. The work, which was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, was created for the then-new post office in Center in 1941.

This oil-on-campus mural “Texas Longhorn—A Vanishing Breed” was painted by Ila Turner McAfee in 1941 with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The historic Cooper, Texas post office contains a Treasury Section of Fine Arts-commissioned mural entitled "Before the Fencing of Delta County." The oil-on-canvas work was completed by Lloyd Goff in 1939.

"Buffalo Hunt" by Suzanne Scheurer, painted and installed in 1938, under the auspices of the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture. Scheurer included "homage to Ol' Rip" in the corner. Ol' Rip was a horned toad interred in the cornerstone of the Eastland County Courthouse.

The mural "Rural Texas Gulf Coast" was produced for the then-new El Campo post office in 1939. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. During post office renovations in 1963, the mural was removed and stored in the basement for over 20 years. It was discovered, restored, and re-installed above the Postmaster's door in 1984. For a detailed account of the mural's composition, see Hal Baker's essay.

Painted by Texas artist Julius Woeltz, the Section of Fine Arts mural "Texas Farm" was produced in 1940. Woeltz was born in San Antonio, studied in Chicago as well as in France and Mexico, and was the head of the Department of Art at the Sul Ross State Teachers College in Alpine, Texas after serving in the US military during the Second World War. New Deal funding was behind the production of a number of other public art works by Woeltz, including the murals in the Amarillo Federal Building and Post Office and the Benton, AR Post Office.

The Farmersville post office houses an example of New Deal artwork: a Section of Fine Arts mural painted in 1941 by Jerry Bywaters. "Bywaters' painting "Soil Conservation in Collin County" was a subtle nudge to Texas farmers to adopt contour plowing - a preventitive for one of the major contributors to the "Dust Bowl." The rural population of Texas was a majority when this painting was made - and by today's standards it could be considered a very artistic "Public Service Announcement.""   (https://www.texasescapes.com)

"Loading Cattle" by Otis Dozier was completed with Section of Fine Arts funds in 1939. It was eventually transferred to the new post office at 1150 U.S. 87.

This 9.5' x 4.5' mural  "Off to Northern Markers" by Joe De Young was completed with Section of Fine Arts funds in 1939.

The historic post office in Giddings, Texas houses an example of New Deal artwork: a Section of Fine Arts-commissioned mural, titled "Cowboys Receiving the Mail," completed in 1939.

This fresco secco mural "Texas Rangers in Camp" by Ward Lockwood was completed with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds in 1942.

The post office in Jasper, Texas houses a New Deal mural entitled "Industries of Jasper." Painted by Alexander Levin and completed in 1939, the work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. The mural, since relocated, was created for Jasper's nearby Depression-era post office building.

The historic post office in Kenedy, Texas houses an example of New Deal artwork: a Section of Fine Arts-commissioned mural, titled "Grist for the Mill," completed in 1939.

The mural "Horses" was created by Tom Lewis in 1939.

The mural "Story of the Big Fish," completed with New Deal funds in 1939, was created for the historic post office in Liberty, and has since been relocated.

The historic post office in Linden, Texas houses an example of New Deal artwork: a Section of Fine Arts-commissioned mural, titled "Cotton Pickers," completed in 1939. The mural was renamed, "The Last Crop."  

The mural "The Pony Express Station" was completed with federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds and installed in the historic Lockhart post office in 1939.

This mural "Rural East Texas" by Thomas M. Stell Jr. was completed with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds in 1942.

The oil-on-canvas mural entitled "McLennan Looking for a Home" was painted by Jose Aceves in 1939. The work was funded by the Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts and still hangs in the lobby of the Mart, Texas post office.

The mural "The Stampede" by Tom Lea was painted for the historic former post office building in Odessa, Texas. The work, which has since been relocated to the city's current post office, was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. A sign in the post office says that this mural was inspired by the song "Little Joe the Wrangler."

The mural "The Naming of Quanah," by Jerry Bywaters, was completed with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds in 1938.

"The Crossroads Town" was painted by Emil Bisttram, a Hungarian-born New Mexico artist who served as the New Mexico supervisor of the first federal art project (PWAP) (Flynn, 2012). "Even the most peaceful scene--the townscape in the Ranger, Texas, Post Office, from 1939--has a story to tell. The artist found Ranger a virtual ghost town but gave hope to the former boomtown with a picture of the clean, prosperous place it could once again become. Hope on the wall, for a mere $880 (the artist's unprincely fee!)" (Marling, 2004).