ADDRESS: 416 George St. De Pere, Wisconsin 54115
ARTIST: Lester W. Bentley
TITLE: The Red Pieta, Nicholas Perrot, Give Us This Day
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (Three individual mural panels)
STATUS: The murals no longer reside in the original building on George Street. They have been moved to the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Call ahead to verify the hours of the museum before heading out to view this one. The panels were located on the wall of one of the stairwells of the museum.
YEAR: 1942
When I entered the address for the De Pere Post Office into my car’s GPS it took me to the newer post office, about a half mile away from the original building. So I took pictures of the newer building and waited in line to ask the lady behind the counter where the original post office was located. She immediately knew and gave me the address and brief directions to the building you see above.
I was immediately impressed with the look of it. Most of the buildings from this era are typically just a square box with a flat roof. This particular one has a wonderful stone facade and bell housing on the roof. I’m not actually sure if that is what you call the white box thing, but I’m at a loss what the technical architectural name is. Do I have any architects followers? or construction folks who might know what this is called? For now, I’ll just refer to it as a bell housing with weather vane. It’s a wonderful decorative feature.
My initial research reviled there was a mural at one time located here, but clearly the building has been sold a number of years ago and appears to be privately owned. I proceeded inside to get a better look and to see if the mural still exist here. Sadly, I did not see the mural and only one office was open at the time I visited. The mural was not visible from the one office I saw. The gentleman who greeted me was very cordial and showed me the old post office photographs in his office and lobby.
So I need help on this one folks. Does anyone know what happened to the mural that was once in the lobby of this wonderful post office? At the time I visited I was heading home from a road tip and didn’t have time to stop at the local historical society. If anyone has more information on this one I’d love to hear from you. Any newspaper articles or artifacts from this one would be great to see.
Update – November 11, 2013
After further research and some phone calls I discovered the original murals once located here are now housed in the Neville Public Museum. Observing and photographing these was my object in early October 2013. Since I knew it was there, I set aside a weekend to head up to Green Bay to see this with my own eyes. What I found is shown in the images below. Three panels is a unique feature of this display.
Thanks for stopping by,
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 8/21/2012 and 10/13/2013 by David W. Gates Jr.
- Wisconsin Post Office Murals by David W. Gates Jr.
- Wisconsin Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
- (affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
- Neville Public Museum (https://www.nevillepublicmuseum.org)
- Ryan Urban Column URC Extra: Kaukauna and De Pere post office murals – Urban Rural Column (wordpress.com)
That’s a beautiful building! Great office. Now this is a post office! I wished they’d all look this nice.
Deano
I agree, and kudos to the current owners for keeping it well maintained. Now if I could figure out what happened to the mural?
Afters some more research I’ve learned the mural from this building now resides in a museum in Green Bay Wisconsin. I’m hoping to visit sometime soon. It took a few phone calls to figure it out but I’m glad. Now I need to get back to planning when I can visit.