Cranford New Jersey Post Office

ADDRESS: 3 Miln St., Cranford, New Jersey 07016
ARTIST: Gerald Foster
TITLE: The Battle of Cranford during the American Revolution
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (murals) 3 panels
STATUS: The Cranford post office is still an active, operating facility, and the murals can be viewed by interested members of the public. One large panel resides on a wall in the main lobby. A second panel resides on an adjacent wall above the mail boxes. One smaller panel resides in the retail section of the lobby.
YEAR: 1935

May 18th – 23rd, of 2021 I visited New Jersey. The purpose of my trip was to personally visit the Fort Lee post office before it is lost forever.

Cranford was another stop during my visit to New Jersey. Another busy place, I think I waited around a good half hour or so to get the images you see with no cars or people. Very challenging yes, but I’m glad I waited around.

Note, I did NOT break the downspout in front of the cornerstone. It was that way when I found it. I’m not sure what I would have done if it wasn’t broken as that would have prevented me from photographing the cornerstone. While I’m sad to see the downspout obstructing the cornerstone, I’m glad it was already broken so I could get a good photograph of it.

The murals in Cranford are huge and take up the entire wall space of the lobby. There is absolutely no way that I’m aware of to get the entire mural in one photograph. Good thing for video as that seems to be the best way to really observe an enjoy the artwork in Cranford.

It also appears the lobby was extensively remodeled in the past. The smaller panel was obviously designed to fit over the postmaster’s door as you can see by the cutout at the bottom.

As for the larger panel, it appears the mural was too big and had to be cut to fit the space. The leftover panel was move to the retail section and what you see in the smaller panel. Interesting indeed. At least that’s what the postal clerk and I chatted about while I was onsite.

If I’m wrong in my assessment of any of this by all means please comment below. I’d love to hear more about it.

UPDATE

I stopped in Cranford during my August 2021 road trip. The weather was great with bright blue skies. The chance to get a better exterior photograph is always a treat.

Thank you,

David W. Gates Jr.