United States Post Office–Holyoke Main

US Post Office—Holyoke Main
US Post Office-Holyoke Main
Location650 Dwight St., Holyoke, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°12′29″N 72°36′38″W / 42.20806°N 72.61056°W / 42.20806; -72.61056
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1933 (1933)
ArchitectAlderman, George P.B., & Co.; James, Thomas M., & Co.
Architectural styleArt Deco
NRHP reference No.86000122 [1]
Added to NRHPJanuary 21, 1986

The US Post Office—Holyoke Main is a historic post office building at 650 Dwight Street in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It opened in 1935, as a replacement for an earlier post office location at 31 Main Street, and is a distinctive local example of Art Deco architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.[1]

The building is one of two post office locations serving the city, with a second in Ingleside at the Holyoke Mall.[2]

Description and history

Holyoke's main post office is located in the city's downtown, on the south side of Dwight Street between Elm and Chestnut Streets. It is a broad two-story structure, built with a steel frame and finished in limestone with granite trim. It has a tall central five-bay section flanked by single-story wings that are two bays wide, with entrances in the outer bays of the central section. Each entry is topped by a transom and a panel with a carved eagle. The main lobby is finished in marble terrazzo flooring, with marble wainscoting and plaster walls, rising to a carved cornice. Part of the wall is painted with a mural depicting the early settlement of Holyoke.[3]

The Art Deco building, a stylistic rarity in Holyoke, was built for a total cost (including land and construction) of $284,000. The lobby mural was executed by Ross Moffett as part of a Depression-era jobs program for artists. The building's location was a matter of some local dispute, with competing interests remaining undecided until the Postal Service threatened to withdraw the project entirely. The second floor interior originally held a variety of other government offices, but is now largely unused.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ Ingleside Mall, USPS Location Details
  3. ^ "NRHP nomination for United States Post Office–Holyoke Main". National Archive. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  4. ^ "MACRIS inventory record for United States Post Office - Holyoke Main". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved December 10, 2013.

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