Artist

Gas City Indiana Post Office

November 25, 2021 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 123 N. 2nd St., Gas City, Indiana 46933
ARTIST: William A. Dolwick
TITLE: Gas City in Boom Days
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Gas City post office is still an active, operating facility, and the mural can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the lobby on a wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1937

What a lovely visit, lucky me there was an older lady who chatted me up. We talked for what seemed like a good 15 or 20 minutes. I learned all about her life and a few of her 7 siblings. I learned about her parents moving to Alaska and how they moved back to Indiana when they were seniors and needed more assistance. Is hard to believe I learned so much about one person in such a short amount of time.

However, I also imagine that’s what life was like and how folks socialized years ago. It was kind of fitting, to talking in the lobby of this great building, observing the wonderful mural and catching up with the locals.

Kudos to the postmaster and staff for taking such wonderful care of the building.

David W. Gates Jr.

Gas City IN Post Office 46933 Mural Right

Gas City IN Post Office 46933 Mural Left

Gas City IN Post Office 46933 Mural Full

Gas City IN Post Office 46933 Mural Center

Gas City IN Post Office 46933 Cornerstone

Gas City IN Post Office 46933 Mural Signature

Gas City IN Post Office 46933 Mural Detail

Sources

Personal visit on 11/23/21 about 9:23 AM by David W. Gates Jr.
Indiana 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: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
(affiliate link): A Simple and Vital Design: The Story of the Indiana Post Office Murals: John C. Carlisle
Smithsonian American Art Museum mural study: Gas City–Boom Days (mural study, Gas City, Indiana Post Office) | Smithsonian American Art Museum (si.edu)
Parma Conservation (https://parmaconservation.com)

Tipton Indiana Post Office

November 24, 2021 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 203 E. Jefferson St, Tipton, Indiana 46072
ARTIST: Donald M. Mattison
TITLE: Indiana Farming
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Tipton post office is still an active, operating facility, and the mural can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the lobby on a wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1937

It was a cold morning when I visited the Tipton post office. I was thankful for the clear and sunny weather. The exterior of the building is nice with great decorative brick features. The lettering in all black above the door is difficult to read for the casual observer. Luckily I can zoom in with my camera to see it.

The mural inside the building is wonderful. However, I’m less than thrilled with the two lights that hang so far down that made it really difficult to get good photos.

I know in other buildings the lights have been raised to the ceiling enabling a better viewer experience.

UPDATE

This was another re-visit during the summer of 2023 to get a little better exterior image of the building.

David W. Gates Jr.

Tipton IN Post Office 46072 Mural Center

Tipton IN Post Office 46072 Mural Signature

Tipton IN Post Office 46072 Mural Detail

Sources

Personal visit on 11/23/21 about 7:35 AM and 06/30/2023 about 8:06 AM by David W. Gates Jr.
Indiana Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
United States Postal Service
Smithsonian American Art Museum Mural Study Indiana Farming (mural study, Tipton, Indiana Post Office) | 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
(affiliate link): A Simple and Vital Design: The Story of the Indiana Post Office Murals: John C. Carlisle
Parma Conservation (https://parmaconservation.com)

Indianapolis Indiana Post Office Broad Ripple Station

November 14, 2021 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 6255 Carrollton Ave, Indianapolis, Indiana 46220
ARTIST: Alan Tompkins
TITLE: Suburban Street
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Indianapolis Broad Ripple Station post office is still an active, operating facility, and the mural can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the lobby on a wall above the post office boxes.
YEAR: 1942

It doesn’t look like it would be difficult to photograph the cornerstone, but that evergreen bush did make this visit fun. I had to hold my entire body in front of the bush and hold my camera at a awkward angle just to get a crooked image of it. Funny! I guess I should learn photo editing software soon so I can fix them.

For those of you familiar with John Carlisle’s book, the Broad Ripple mural used for the cover of the book.

My visit was early on a Sunday, and they apparently do not keep the lobby open. Dang! I’ll have to revisit this one in the future for mural images, but for now, enjoy these early morning photos.

After reviewing a few of the images, it appears they remodeled the lobby. If you notice they converted the postmaster’s office into retail space for the post office boxes. It also appears they removed the bulletin boards on either side. I wonder what happened to them?

David W. Gates Jr.