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Post offices with murals, includes new deal and non-new deal art.

Post offices with murals, includes new deal and non-new deal art.

Kearny New Jersey Post Office

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Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032

ADDRESS: 64 Midland Ave., Kearny, New Jersey 07032
ARTIST: Albert Kotin
TITLE: The City and The Marsh
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (murals) 2 panels
STATUS: The Kearny post office is still an active, operating facility, and the murals can be viewed by interested members of the public. Formally known as Arlington, the post office took on the Kearny name in the 1950s. One mural resides in the main lobby, and the other one resides in the retail section of the lobby.
YEAR: 1935

My first attempt to see this one failed as I arrived after hours and the lobby was closed. I came back the next day to photograph the murals.

I love the look of this building, and was quite impressed with the interior and lobby. One disappointment was the lights obstructing the murals in both locations.

In addition, the postal service placed a large TV monitor in front of the mural in the retail section of the lobby. Thus restricting the entire view of the work. A disappointment indeed but I did what I could to get the images you see below.

The entire arrangement in the retail section of the lobby made it difficult to get up close, and take the detail photographs that I like. On the left side there were was the writing desk and retail displays. The customers were also standing in line on the right side, making it difficult to get up close to the mural. Since this was a busy station, I decided not to stick around. I took the pictures I could and was on my way.

David W. Gates Jr.

Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032 Mural2-Full
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032 Mural1 Full
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032 Lobby
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032 Lobby
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032 Signature
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032 Mural2-Center
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032 Mural1-5
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032 Cornerstone
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032 Cornerstone
Kearny New Jersey Post Office 07032 Mural2-Full

“Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.”

Sources

Cranford New Jersey Post Office

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Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016

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.

Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016 Cornerstone5
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016 Mural Plaque
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016 Lobby
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016 Lobby
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016 Mural2
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016 Mural2
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016 Mural3
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016 Mural3
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016 Mural2
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016 Mural2
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016 Mural3
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016 Mural3
Cranford New Jersey Post Office 07016

“Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.”

Sources

Wildwood New Jersey Post Office

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Wildwood New Jersey Post Office 08260
Wildwood New Jersey Post Office 08260

ADDRESS: 3311 Atlantic Ave., Wildwood, New Jersey 08260
ARTIST: Dennis Burlingame
TITLE: Activities of the Fishing Fleet
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (murals) 2 panels
STATUS: The Wildwood post office is still an active, operating facility. The murals can be viewed by interested members of the public. One panel resides in the main lobby above the mailboxes. The other panel resides in the retail section of the lobby on the wall above the postmaster’s door. As of this writing the facility is only open during business hours.
YEAR: 1939

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. While I was out this way, I also decided to view as many other post offices with murals as possible. Wildwood was one of them.

I actually arrived very early in the morning. The lobby wasn’t open so I had to come back to see the murals. I also had a wonderful chat with the postmistress on site. I’m delighted she shared an interest in saving these historic buildings and art.

Wildwood is lucky to have two murals.

David W. Gates Jr.

Wildwood New Jersey Post Office 08260 Retail Mural
Wildwood New Jersey Post Office 08260 Mural Detail
Wildwood New Jersey Post Office 08260 Mural Detail
Wildwood New Jersey Post Office 08260 Mural Detail
Wildwood New Jersey Post Office 08260
Wildwood New Jersey Post Office 08260 Retail Mural Left
Wildwood New Jersey Post Office 08260 Retail Mural Right
Wildwood New Jersey Post Office 08260 Retail Lobby
Wildwood New Jersey Post Office 08260 Retail Lobby
Wildwood New Jersey Post Office 08260 Retail Lobby

“Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.”

Sources