ADDRESS: 101 Main St., Alsey, Illinois 62610
Welcome to today’s featured building from Alsey, Illinois.
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit 5/3/2015 by David W. Gates Jr.
- United States Postal Service
Alsey Illinois Post Office
Illinois Post Offices
Illinois Post Offices
Elmhurst Illinois Post Office
ADDRESS: 154 West Park Avenue, Elmhurst, Illinois, 60126
ARTIST: George Melville Smith
TITLE: There Was Vision
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Elmhurst 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: 1938
I had a wonderful sunny day for my visit to Elmhurst. I woke up early on a Saturday so I could be down there when they opened. I was happy to see a plaque in the lobby describing the mural, although it was high up on wall making it hard to read.
I will say this, the lighting in the lobby is ideal. It doesn’t block the mural in any way and provides enough light to see the entire piece. Often times I see lights that hang down and obstruct the view of the murals. I just visited some more buildings this past weekend and this was exactly what I ran into. So now that I’m looking back on this article I can honestly say some thought was put into the lighting and its nice to see it does not get in the way of viewing this piece.
What are your thoughts regarding this mural? What do you like about it?
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 8/16/2015 and 04/11/2023 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
- Elmhurst History: Mural, “There Was Vision” | Explore Elmhurst, IL (elmhursthistory.org)
- Patch Illinois: 1937 – George Melville Smith completes “There Was Vision” mural at Elmhurst Post Office | Elmhurst, IL Patch
- Explore Elmhurst
Pittsfield Illinois Post Office
ADDRESS: 129 South Madison Street, Pittsfield, Illinois, 62363
ARTIST: William Samuel Schwartz
TITLE: River Boat and Bridge
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Pittsfield 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: 1938
The first thing that sticks when viewing this mural are deep colors.
The building itself is also unique. Most of the New Deal Building have flat roofs and have a box-like appearance. The Pittsfield building has a roof you can clearly see along with one of those decorative gazebos things on the top. Does someone out there know what the technical name of this is called?
When I was younger I poured over Architectural Digest magazines. I enjoyed seeing all the different style houses. I think my post office obsession is a way of feeding this piece of my life. I enjoy all the different style buildings. This also explains why I also notice such things as the roof and various decorative bricks used in the construction of the buildings.
Where one person just views it as another building or post office. I notice the details and effort that was put into buildings during this era.
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 5/03/2015 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
- Parma Conservation