48 State Mural Competition

Seneca Kansas Post Office

July 31, 2022 By David W. Gates Jr.

Seneca KS Post Office 66538 P6 — Seneca KS Post Office 66538

ADDRESS: 607 Main St, Seneca, Kansas 66538
ARTIST: Joe Jones
TITLE: Men and Wheat
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (murals)
STATUS: The Seneca post office is still an active, operating facility and the mural can be viewed by interested members of the public. The mural resides in the lobby on the wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1940

What a beautiful building. I was pleasantly surprised when I visited Seneca. I had seen a few pictures of this one on the internet, but experiencing this in person is totally worth it.

I was in Kansas in the summer of 2022 for a family wedding. I was able to stop at two other buildings with artwork. Horton and Sabetha were the other two.

The Seneca mural was the Kansas winner in the 48 state mural competition. The building is wonderful and the mural is beautiful.

David W. Gates Jr.

Seneca-KS-Post-Office-66538-Mural7-crop-scaled

Seneca KS Post Office 66538 Mural Detail

Seneca KS Post Office 66538 Mural Signature

Seneca KS Post Office 66538 Mural Center

Sources

Personal visit on 7/23/2022 at 10:57 AM 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
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). KTWU Sunflower Journey’s. “Murals, Glass & Mask” – 2604 Season 26 Episode 2604, Post Office Murals, Depression Glass, Plains People: Dave Van Hee.
Kansas Sampler Foundation 8 Wonders of Kansas Art | Post Office Section Art, statewide Kansas Sampler Foundation

Selbyville Delaware Post Office

September 30, 2021 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 23 Church St., Selbyville, Delaware 19975
ARTIST: William Howard. Calfee
TITLE: Chicken Farm
MEDIUM: Oil and termpera (mural)
STATUS: The Selbyville 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 the wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1942

Another wonderful stop compete with mural and challenging cornerstone to photograph. Nice weather and blue skies always make me happy when photographing the exterior of the buildings. I lucked out with the weather during this trip. I’m really happy with both the exterior building images and the mural is wonderful.

Selbyville was another building where the cornerstone is covered up with bushes. It was a bit of a challenge holding them back just enough so I could get a good photo of it. My preference would be a straight on image, but something this is difficult to achieve.

David W. Gates Jr.

Selbyville DE Post Office 19975 Cornerstone

Selbyville DE Post Office 19975 Mural Center

Selbyville DE Post Office 19975 Mural Left

Selbyville DE Post Office 19975 Mural Right

Selbyville DE Post Office 19975 Mural Detail

Selbyville-DE-Post-Office-19975-Muralcrop-scaled

Sources

Personal visit on 8/14/21 about 12:02 AM by David W. Gates Jr.
(affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
United States Postal Service
Smithsonian American Art Museum: William H. Calfee | Smithsonian American Art Museum (si.edu)
Ask Art: William Calfee – Biography (askart.com)

Bordentown New Jersey Post Office

May 27, 2021 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 14 Walnut St., Bordentown, New Jersey 08505
ARTIST: Avery Fischer Johnson
TITLE: Skating on Bonaparte’s Pond
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Bordentown 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 the wall above the postmaster’s door. The Bordentown mural was the winner in the 48 state mural competition.
YEAR: 1938

Last week from May 18th through the 23rd 2021, I took a road trip to New Jersey. My goal was to visit the Fort Lee building and meet with the mayor to help convince him not to demolish their historic post office.

In addition I also stop at 46 other buildings, Bordentown was another visit during my trip to New Jersey. They don’t keep the lobby open after hours and by the time I made it here on the 19th, it was closed. Wonderful sunny weather for outside photographs.

This is another example where I think the lights should be brought up flush with the ceiling for a better, unobstructed view of the mural.

I ended up heading back to Bordentown two days later to get inside mural images you see below. This is a very nice mural and the 48 state mural competition winners for New Jersey.

UPDATE

I didn’t have to re-visit the Bordentown building, but I wanted a better early morning photograph. Back in May, I visited late in the afternoon and the sun sets behind the building. The photographs I had were dark and not what I wanted since I’m using this one as the cover of the guidebook. So in August I re-visited and the weather was perfect for new photographs. I’m satisfied.

David W. Gates Jr.