ADDRESS: 5 South Washington Street, Naperville, Illinois, 60540
ARTIST: Rainey Bennett
TITLE: George Martin’s Home Overlooking Old Naper Mill
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The former Naperville post office is now Naperville Bank & Trust. However, the mural can be viewed by interested members of the public during business hours. It resides in the lobby behind the teller’s counter.
YEAR: 1941
I have to tell you this was a hard one to write about. Let me explain. It’s the former post office. No, it’s the newer post office. Yes you are correct, it’s both. It really is an odd combination of both. See apparently the Naperville Bank & Trust company purchase and renovated the former post office building.
However, it appears the post office also added onto the old building in a sense keeping the same location. There is actually a door inside the new post office that leads directly into the bank. So you can imagine the difficulty in attempting to categorize or list this one. It’s also my first post that is essentially a combination a of new and former post office. I guess you could call it a bonus day. Two for the price of one at Post Office Freak! Welcome to the Former Naperville post office building, complete with mural and artifacts, and the new addition right in heart of downtown Naperville.
Since the old building is now privately owned I was polite and asked permission before photographing inside the building. It was difficult to get the entire piece. As you can see from the photos below there are two very large lights in front of the mural, making it very difficult to get the entire piece in one shot. I tried my best and realized the close up detail photos turned out the best.
The Naperville historical society has done a lot to preserve the artifacts from this building and the bank has done a nice job in displaying the pieces through-out the lobby. If you are a real fan of these classic post office buildings you will definitely want to add this one to your list to visit.
Thanks for stopping by
David W. Gates Jr.
Happy to have visited this one again. April 2023.
Sources
- Personal visit on 1/30/2013 and 4/10/2023 by David W. Gates Jr.
- Illinois Post Office Mural Guidebook
- United States Postal Service
- Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
- Naperville Bank & Trust
Just to clarify the timeline on this one – this post office was built in 1939-40. The USPS remodeled the lobby and added onto the rear and south of the building in 1964. The USPS expanded again in 1973 by adding the limestone addition to the south flush with the front of the 1939 portion. In 2011, the USPS sold the building to Naperville Bank and Trust, which rehabilitated the building in 2011-12 for its own use using federal historic tax credits. The Post Office is renting back the front portion of the 1973 addition as a retail facility. It’s a great example of a WPA post office and a sensitive reuse of a historic building.
Anthony,
Thanks for the clarification and posting all the details. This helps me a lot to understand the history of this building. Kudos to the bank for displaying the artifacts in the lobby. It’s a great building and I’m delighted the bank is keeping it preserved and maintained.
David