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New Deal buildings or New Deal murals or artwork.

New Deal buildings or New Deal murals or artwork.

Berwyn Illinois Post Office

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Berwyn IL Post Office 60402
Berwyn IL Post Office 60402

ADDRESS: 6625 Cermak Road, Berwyn, Illinois 60402
ARTIST: Richard Haines
TITLE: The Picnic
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Berwyn 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

Check out the snow! I waited to post this one in June to remind every one of the long cold winters in Chicago-Land. I had to visit this one twice in January of 2013. The first time I visited it was on a Sunday, apparently they lock up the building. So I  returned to Berwyn again the following Saturday during normal business hours so I could photograph the very large wonderful mural inside.

Thanks,

David W. Gates Jr.

Berwyn Illinois Post Office 60402
Berwyn Illinois Post Office Mural Left Side
Berwyn Illinois Post Office Mural Full
Berwyn Illinois Post Office 60402 Cornerstone
Berwyn Illinois Post Office 60402
Berwyn Illinois Post Office 60402
Berwyn Illinois Post Office Mural Right Side
Berwyn Illinois Post Office Mural Center
Berwyn Illinois Post Office Artists Signature
Berwyn Illinois Post Office 60402
Berwyn Illinois Post Office 60402

Updated 11/28/2020

This was my second stop on November 28 to get better images of the Berwyn, Illinois post office. The sun sets behind the building making it difficult to get a good image. Note to self, If you can get there in the morning, that would be a better time to photograph the front of the building with more natural light.

 

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

Sources

Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House

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Former Columbia TN Post Office and Court House
Former Columbia TN Post Office and Court House

ADDRESS : 815 South Garden Street, Columbia, Tennessee 38401
ARTIST: Henry Billings
TITLE: Maury County Landscape
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The post offices no longer operates out of this building. The mural resides in the lobby of the building but is not easily accessible to members of the public.
YEAR: 1942

ARTIST: Sidney Waugh
TITLE: Large Concrete Eagle
MEDIUM: Concrete (sculpture)
STATUS: The eagle sculpture resides on the exterior of the building on the roof.
YEAR: 1941

oh Happy Farther’s day Dad!!!

So my time in Tennessee brought me to the old post office and court-house. The good news is the building is still being used as a court-house. The not so good news is that it is no longer a post office. I’m happy to see the engraved letters “post office and court-house” above the entrance to the building.

Howard Hull’s book “Tennessee Post Office Murals” list the Columbia Post Office as having a mural. Since the building is not open to the public I’m unable to confirm if the mural still exist. The Columbia chapter in Hull’s book displays pictures of the mural.

So now I’m going to ask for some help. Does this mural still exist in this building? Is there anyone reading know if the mural has been moved or restored? The front doors were locked during a week day with not security folks around to ask.

Any help in confirming this or shedding more light on this would be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE January 2015

In December 2014, I was able to schedule and gain access to this building. I also managed to get a bunch of photographs of the mural. Since the lobby was undergoing light bulb changes most ceiling lights were out or missing.  This made it difficult to get go photographs. I can now check this one off my list. Yes, this mural is in great shape and in excellent condition.

Thanks,

David W. Gates Jr.

Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Cornerstone
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Center
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Detail
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Detail
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Detail
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Detail
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Detail
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Detail
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Detail
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Detail
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Detail
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Detail
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Full
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Full
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Left Side
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Plaque
Former Columbia Tennessee Post Office and Court House Mural Right Side

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

Sources

Wilmette Illinois Post Office

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Wilmette IL Post Office 60091
Wilmette IL Post Office 60091

ADDRESS: 1241 Central Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091
ARTIST: Raymond Breinin
TITLE: In The Soil is our Wealth
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Wilmette post office is still an active, operating facility, and the mural can be viewed by interested members of the pubic. It resides in a room off to the left of the public lobby. It’s viewable through the glass but difficult to see it entirely unobstructed unless in the office.
YEAR: 1938

It didn’t look like these two characters in front of the building were going to move anytime soon. They were just kind of loitering around the entrance to the building. Funny, because I’m usually waiting for cars to move. I didn’t have the nerve to ask them to move so I could get an un-obstructive picture, so I just took the photo as is.

Photographing the mural was a challenge. Some time in the history of this building , they built out the left side of the lobby and turned it into an office. The mural is now behind glass and viewable through the large window. The postmaster was kind enough to let me inside the office to get a few better pictures. I was glad I asked as the photos I have look much better without the added glass obstructing the view.

Thanks for stopping by

David W. Gates Jr.

Wilmette Illinois Post Office 60091
Wilmette Illinois Post Office 60091
Wilmette Illinois Post Office 60091
Wilmette Illinois Post Office Cornerstone
Wilmette Illinois Post Office Mural Full
Wilmette Illinois Post Office Mural Detail
Wilmette Illinois Post Office Mural Detail
Wilmette Illinois Post Office Mural Center
Wilmette Illinois Post Office Mural Artists Signature
Wilmette Illinois Post Office Mural Left Side
Wilmette Illinois Post Office Mural Right Side
Wilmette Illinois Post Office Mural Full
Wilmette Illinois Post Office Mural Full
Wilmette Illinois Post Office 60091

Update 11/17/2020

The feature image on this article always bothered me with the two individuals loitering in front of the building. Today I made another trip to this building to photograph it without cars or people. Little did I know that I’d be standing around for about a half hour before I had an unobstructed view of the building. I think it was worth it as we had nice blue skies and plenty of sunshine today in the Chicago-land area. Enjoy!

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

Sources