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Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office

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Ridgewood NJ Post Office 07450
Ridgewood NJ Post Office 07450

ADDRESS: 143 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450
ARTIST: Romuald Kraus
TITLE: Male and Female Figures
MEDIUM: Metal (reliefs) 2 reliefs
STATUS: The Ridgewood post office is still an active, operating facility, and the reliefs can be viewed by interested members of the public. They resided in the lobby on the wall above the retail counter.
YEAR: 1937

I wasn’t quite prepared for such a large lobby. There just seems to be a lot of space inside, which is definitely different than most I’ve visited.

Most of the buildings are smaller more intimate places, but from the outside, I guess I would not have expected the ceiling height to be so open.

Bonus that we also have a statue of the postal carrier in the front lawn of the building. I’ve seen people take their pictures with this status and I’m not different. I walked right to get a selfie with the postal carrier.

Both reliefs in the lobby are high up and difficult to see. Even using the tripod it was difficult to bring the art closer. I think I did  pretty good job, but let me know if you feel different in the comments below.

David W. Gates Jr.

Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Mailbox
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 DG
Ridgewood-New-Jersey-Post-Office-07450-Artifacts
Ridgewood-New-Jersey-Post-Office-07450-Artifacts
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Plaque
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-11
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-10
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-9
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-8
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief1-9
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-12
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-13
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-13
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-7
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-6
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-2
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-2
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-3
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-4
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-5
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief2-2
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief1-2
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief1-3
Ridgewood New Jersey Post Office 07450 Relief1-4

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“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

Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office

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Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401

ADDRESS: 1801 Atlantic Ave., Ste 101, Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401
ARTIST: Peppino Mangravite
TITLE: Family Recreations, and Youth
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (murals) 2 panels
STATUS: The former Atlantic City post office was razed. The murals were moved to the new building shown here. The murals reside behind glass cases in the main lobby of the building. They can be viewed by interested members of the public during business hours.
YEAR: 1939

Last week from May 18th through the 23 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 stopped at the Atlantic City, New Jersey building. This of course is the newer building which replaced the historic post office built in the 1930s.

The murals are huge and hard to photograph in the glass cases. They were meant to be viewed from a distance high up on a wall. I’m thankful they were saved and on display for the public, but it does take away from the viewer when you have them placed so low to the ground and can’t step back to see the entire panels.

The lobby is very narrow, so the best view you can get of the entire work is from the angle or up close details, which is also nice.

David W. Gates Jr.

Atlantic City (former) New Jersey post office
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Detail
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Detail
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Detail
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Detail
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Lobby
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Detail
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Detail
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Detail
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Detail
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Detail
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Detail
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Detail
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Detail
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401 Mural Signature
Atlantic City New Jersey Post Office 08401

This is the original post office building. It has since been demolished. However, the two murals that were once installed here, have been moved to the newer post office building.

Atlantic City (former) New Jersey post office
Atlantic City (former) New Jersey post office

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

Sources