Celebrating our Nation's Post Offices
ADDRESS: 1787 Orchard LN., Northfield, Illinois 60093
My first visit to this post office was September of 2009. Since I never checked if there was a dedication plaque I re-visited today.
No dedication plaque but I was able to get a few more photos. The post office and library are in one single building.
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
Alden Illinois Post Office
Today I bring you the Alden IL Post Office. It’s actually a picture of a picture. The actual Alden Post Office no longer exist. I found this picture hanging in an antique store. My girlfriend and I were out for the day and decided to stop in this store and have a look around. I was so intrigued by the photograph I ended up talking to the store owner for a while about it.
When I asked if there was a new post office to replace this one, I was told that Alden no longer has a post office. The owner of the store mentioned Harvard, and Hebron were the closest post offices.
I’m adding this to the list of post office to investigate further. Unless anyone out there has more history or stories about the Alden Post Office.
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
ADDRESS: 4850 North Broadway Street, Chicago, Illinois 60640
ARTIST: Henry Varnum Poor
TITLE: Carl Sandburg & Louis Sullivan
MEDIUM: Ceramic (titles)
STATUS: The Chicago Uptown Station is still an active, operating facility, and the titles can be viewed by interested members of the public. The tiles are located in the lobby on the wall above the retail service counters.
YEAR: 1943
The good thing about visiting post offices in the city is the abundance of artificial light. It was only about 5:00 pm when I visited but the sun had already set so it was rather dark.
While I was there a person at the entrance was opening the door for people. I think I spooked him off because when I started taking pictures he ran off across the street.
The post office has two eagle sculptures draping the front entrance. They appear to be carved out of granite and are an impressive decorative feature. The lobby also contains two great murals. Both are excellent examples of artwork commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts.
The stamped stone list the following, James A Farley as postmaster general, John M Carmody as the Federal Works Administrator, W Englebert Reynolds as commissioner of Public Buildings, Louis A Simon Supervising Architect, Neal A Melick Supervising Engineer, Howard Loveweil Cheney as Consulting Architect. The date on the building is 1939.
Updated November 2015
I had the pleasure of visiting this building again during the daylight hours in October of 2015. The lighting was so much better. I took the time to get additional detail photos of the ceramic title murals. As I’m updating this article I’ve decided to keep the older photos in addition to the new photos. This contrast represents the challenges I face when visiting post offices during the winter months here in the midwest.
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz