[view:slideshow=panel_pane_1] The Wall Street Journal has a report today about how the Postal Service is in the process of selling off its historic post offices. Maybe someone at the Journal has been reading "Save the Post Office." We've been bemoaning the sale of these historic post offices for months now, and there have been stories in the Guardian in the … Read More
Optimizing Bethesda: Another New Deal post office, sold and soon to close
Head west out of USPS headquarters in L’Enfant Plaza and take Wisconsin Avenue north, and in less than 30 minutes, if the traffic isn’t too bad, you’ll find yourself in one of the richest and most highly educated communities in the country, Bethesda, Maryland. In the middle of town at 7400 Wisconsin Avenue you’ll discover one of the more beautiful … Read More
One Moment in Time: A Golf Story for Sunday Morning
Pinehurst, North Carolina, is a small town located in the south central part of the state in an area called the Sandhills. It was established in 1895 when James Walker Tufts, a resident of Boston who had build a fortune with the American Soda Fountain Company, purchased land to create a health resort. He wanted a “first rate” plan, so … Read More
The times they are a changin: New Deal P.O. in Fairfield, for sale, maybe
Settled in 1639, Fairfield, Connecticut is one of the oldest towns in the country, and the people of Fairfield were among the earliest followers of the cause for independence in the Revolutionary War. In 1779 the British burned the town to the ground in retaliation. At Fairfield’s center is the Historic District, which contains 75 buildings in a variety of … Read More
The Face of the Post Office: New Deal P.O. in Eugene, for sale
It’s the usual story. The Postal Service owns a beautiful downtown post office that’s been a thriving hub for decades. Then it moves most of the postal workers to another facility, a non-descript annex on the edge of town or in another city. After a few years the Postal Service says, “the building is much bigger than we need,” and … Read More
Modesto Update: Going, going
The New Deal post office (1933) in Modesto CA is being auctioned off, and you can follow the bidding action on the General Services Administration (GSA) auction site (it’s one of the featured properties at the top). The auction started on June 9, with a minimum opening bid of $100,000. As of July 5, three bidders were competing, and the … Read More
Fish Stories: New Deal P.O. in Geneva IL, for sale
In 1843 women's rights advocate Margaret Fuller, on a road trip around the country, stopped for a few days in Geneva, Illinois, a new settlement on the western fringe of Chicago. In her book Summer on the Lakes, she wrote that it reminded her of a New England village, and she discovered many New Englanders living there, "generous, intelligent, discreet, … Read More
A Sense of Place: New Deal Post Office in Fort Worth, For Sale?
In the mid-nineteenth century, Fort Worth, Texas, became the center of the cattle drives of the legendary Chisholm Trail, earning it the nickname “Cowtown.” The railroad arrived in 1876, ushering in another boom and a new nickname, “Queen City of the Prairies.” The cowboys whooped it up in dozens of saloons and bawdy houses, and Forth Worth got itself yet … Read More
The Old Days of Greenwich, and the New
The federal government has a long history, going back to the early nineteenth-century, of constructing buildings intended to symbolize the power, stability, and prosperity of the nation and its government. Court houses, custom houses, and post offices were designed in the latest styles and using the best technology, and they were supposed to be monumental and grand to inspire confidence … Read More
Taking up arms against the USPS in Norwich, CT
The post office in Norwich, Connecticut, was built in 1905. An addition was built by the New Deal in 1938, and the post office was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. It contains a mural, "Taking Up Arms – 1776," painted in 1940 by George Kanelous, who was such a perfectionist he’d paint over his own … Read More
Done Deal: New Deal P.O. in Westport, CT, Sold
The post office at 154 Post Road in Westport, Connecticut, was built in 1935 by the New Deal. It was designed by Lansing Holden, a World War I flying ace, who won the Distinguished Service Cross. Returning home from the war, he took up his father’s profession as an architect. Holden continued to fly, and in 1938 he died in … Read More
New Deal Post Office in Camas, WA: Going, going, gone
The post office in downtown Camas, Washington, was built in 1939 under the New Deal, and it's been on the National Register of Historic Buildings since 1991. The Camas post office contains a mural, sponsored by the Section of Fine Arts, painted by Douglas Nicholson in 1941. Entitled "Beginning of a New World," it depicts Northwest settlers and a Native … Read More
New Deal post office in Somerville: For Sale
The Union Square post office on Washington Street in Somerville, Massachusetts, was built in 1935, under the New Deal. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. As the Somerville Patch reports, the USPS is planning to move most of the Union Square operations to another location, sell the historic building, and lease back some space … Read More
It don’t look good, news is bad: New Deal P.O. in Ukiah, CA, to close
The post office in Ukiah, California, was built in 1937 under the New Deal. It may close in a few weeks. On Feb. 23, the Postal Service announced its intention to close this downtown post office and move its services to an annex at the edge of the city. A meeting was held on April 21, and more than 200 … Read More
Palm Beach Story
In October of 2010, residents of Palm Beach, Florida, learned that their post office would be closing. An historic structure built in 1936 by the New Deal, it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Residents had a few weeks to protest, and protest they did, but to no avail—the post office is closing, probably sometime in June. The … Read More
Historic Post Office in Athens, PA: Don’t Bet on It
The rich heritage of post offices built during the New Deal is being dismantled by the Postal Service, piece by piece. The post office in Athens, Pennsylvania, may be closing soon. The Sayre, PA, Morning Times reports today, “According to the Postmaster (who is not a local), a truck will come in Memorial Day weekend to move the majority of … Read More