ADDRESS: 101 S Main St, McLean, TX 79057
Another Doug contribution.
Thanks.
Sources
- Personal visit by Doug
- United States Postal Service
Mclean Texas Post Office – Guest
Archives for June 2021
Newark New Jersey Post Office & Courthouse
ADDRESS: 2 Federal Square, Newark, New Jersey 07102
ARTIST: Romuald Kraus
TITLE: Justice
MEDIUM: Bronze (sculpture)
STATUS: The Newark post office is still an active, operating facility. However, as of this writing I’ve been unable to confirm the exact location of this piece.
YEAR: 1933
ADDRESS: 2 Federal Square, Newark, New Jersey 07102
ARTIST: Vicken Von Post Totten
TITLE: Darkness and Light
MEDIUM: Metal (medallions)
STATUS: The Newark post office is still an active, operating facility. As of this writing, I’ve been unable to locate the status or whereabouts of the two medallions. My research reveals they are considered, missing, lost or destroyed. The bronze statute resides near the courtrooms on the third floor.
YEAR: 1933
Newark is perhaps the most fancy lobbies I’ve seen. I arrived pretty early and got the nice sunrise showing on the building. That is the reason for the nice orange glow of the first few images.
I arrived very early on a Sunday to photograph this one. This was on purpose, as I wanted to photograph it with as little cars or people in the pictures. It turns out this was a great time to visit and that the lobby was also open. So I was extremely happy to be able to go inside see the very ornate lobby and take my exterior sunrise photos. It was a good morning.
I did not attempt to find the sculpture or medallions on this trip. My goal was all exterior images. In addition I knew that I was going to have to make a second visit to get into a few other buildings.
I needed to visit Fort Lee one more time before heading home so that’s exactly what I did.
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 5/23/21 about 5:40 AM and 8/2021 by David W. Gates Jr.
- (affiliate link) New Jersey Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
- United States Postal Service
- Smithsonian American Art Museum (Justice (model, Newark, New Jersey Courthouse) | Smithsonian American Art Museum (si.edu))
- (affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
- Yale Law School (Justice, Romuald Kraus | Documents Collection Center (yale.edu))
- National Archives “Light” and “Darkness” Sculpture, Newark, NJ Post Office by Vicken Tottens | DocsTeach
- The National Archives Catalog
Mount Holly New Jersey Post Office
ADDRESS: 28 Washington St., Mount Holly, New Jersey 08060
ARTIST: Enid Bell
TITLE: The Post—1790
MEDIUM: Wood (relief)
STATUS: The Mount Holly post office is still an active, operating facility, and the relief can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the lobby on the wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1935
This was another post office I had to visit twice. The first time I arrived after hours and the lobby was closed.
The clerk was busy with another customer so I didn’t ask before starting to photograph this one. She immediately got testy and demanded that I delete the images. I politely explained what I was doing but she refused to hear any of it.
I asked her to contact the postmaster, which she did, unfortunately it took a few minutes and I continued to take pictures as it wasn’t going to take long and I wanted to get going quickly.
The postmasters showed up and when I explained what I was doing, he understood and allowed me to continue.
I mean no harm, really, I’m just a history guy interested in your old post office.
David W. Gates Jr.
“Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.”
Sources
- Personal visit on 5/19/21 about 5:00 PM by David W. Gates Jr.
- (affiliate link) New Jersey Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
- United States Postal Service
- (affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal