New Deal buildings or New Deal murals or artwork.

Indianapolis Indiana Post Office Broad Ripple Station

November 14, 2021 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 6255 Carrollton Ave, Indianapolis, Indiana 46220
ARTIST: Alan Tompkins
TITLE: Suburban Street
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Indianapolis Broad Ripple Station 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 a wall above the post office boxes.
YEAR: 1942

It doesn’t look like it would be difficult to photograph the cornerstone, but that evergreen bush did make this visit fun. I had to hold my entire body in front of the bush and hold my camera at a awkward angle just to get a crooked image of it. Funny! I guess I should learn photo editing software soon so I can fix them.

For those of you familiar with John Carlisle’s book, the Broad Ripple mural used for the cover of the book.

My visit was early on a Sunday, and they apparently do not keep the lobby open. Dang! I’ll have to revisit this one in the future for mural images, but for now, enjoy these early morning photos.

After reviewing a few of the images, it appears they remodeled the lobby. If you notice they converted the postmaster’s office into retail space for the post office boxes. It also appears they removed the bulletin boards on either side. I wonder what happened to them?

David W. Gates Jr.

Broad Ripple IN Post Office 46220 Mural Detail

Broad Ripple IN Post Office 46220 Mural Signature

Broad Ripple IN Post Office 46220 Mural Right

Broad Ripple IN Post Office 46220 Mural Left

Broad Ripple IN Post Office 46220 Mural Center

Broad Ripple IN Post Office 46220 Mailbox

Broad Ripple IN Post Office 46220 Cornerstone

Sources

Personal visit on 11/7/21 about 7:15 AM and 3/09/22 at 1:34 PM by David W. Gates Jr.
Indiana Post Office Mural Guidebook 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
(affiliate link): A Simple and Vital Design: The Story of the Indiana Post Office Murals: John C. Carlisle

Batesville Indiana Post Office

November 13, 2021 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 3 W George St, Batesville, Indiana 47006
ARTIST: Orville Carroll
TITLE: Rebuilding the Industrial Foundations of Batesville
MEDIUM: Tempera (mural)
STATUS: The Batesville 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 a wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1938

Batesville was another stop during a recent road trip. It is November and the days are getting shorting and the lighting is a bit tricky. For Batesville the sun was off to the left side behind the building. This made for a darker front for my photographs.

Note to self, I think I want very early photos or just wait until the summer and visit again. But until then, at least the lobby was open on a Sunday and I was able to view this beautiful mural by Orville Carroll.

David W. Gates Jr.

Batesville IN Post Office 47006 Mural Center

Batesville IN Post Office 47006 Cornerstone

Batesville IN Post Office 47006 Mural Detail

Batesville IN Post Office 47006 Mural Left

Batesville IN Post Office 47006 Mural Right

Sources

Personal visit on 11/7/21 about 10:15 AM and 06/30/2023 about 11:02 AM by David W. Gates Jr.
Indiana Post Office Mural Guidebook 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
(affiliate link): A Simple and Vital Design: The Story of the Indiana Post Office Murals: John C. Carlisle

Aurora Indiana Post Office

November 11, 2021 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 501 3rd St, Aurora, Indiana 47001
ARTIST: Henrik Martin Mayer
TITLE: Down to the Ferry
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Aurora 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 a wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1938

Photograph in the fall is always a challenge. My visit to Aurora demonstrates the conditions I face during this time. I arrived in Aurora about 11:26 AM. The sun was low on the horizon and slightly behind the building.

Why does this matter? Well, the images turn out darker than I’d like. My preference would be to have the sun shinning brightly on the front of the building with deep blue skies in the background and no clouds. But, I’ll take what I can get.

There are some great historical construction photos in the lobby along with a beautiful mural. Enjoy!

David W. Gates Jr.