United States Post Office-Visalia Town Center Station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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US Post Office—Visalia Town Center
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Visalia Town Center Post Office circa 1960
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| Location | 111 West Acequia Avenue, Visalia, California |
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| Built | 1932–33 |
| Architect | William D. Coates |
| Architectural style | Art Deco-Beaux Arts |
| NRHP reference No. | 85000142 |
| Added to NRHP | 1985 |
The Visalia Town Center Post Office is a special historic building located in downtown Visalia, California. It's a post office where people send and receive mail. This building opened in 1933 and is famous for its unique Art Deco style. Because of its cool design and how it was built, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. It's still used as a post office today!
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Building a Landmark: The Great Depression Era
The Visalia Town Center Post Office was built between 1932 and 1933. This was during a tough time in American history called the Great Depression. Many people didn't have jobs. To help, President Franklin D. Roosevelt started programs like the New Deal. One part of the New Deal was the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA hired people to build important things like roads, bridges, and buildings – including this post office!
Who Designed This Building?
The post office was designed by an architect named William D. Coates, who was from Fresno, California. He made sure the building looked strong and balanced, which was common for post offices back then. But he also added some really fancy details that make it special.
What Does It Look Like?
The building uses two main types of bricks: light-tan bricks for most of the walls and dark-brown bricks for cool decorations. Inside, it's even more amazing! You'll find shiny cast aluminum, beautiful marble, and a colorful floor made of terrazzo. Terrazzo is a special kind of floor made from chips of marble, quartz, or glass set in cement.
The building's design mixes two styles:
- Beaux-Arts: This style makes the building look grand and balanced, with everything lined up perfectly.
- Art Deco: This style adds cool, modern designs, especially in the detailed terracotta panels. Terracotta is a type of baked clay used for decoration.
The architect got ideas for the Art Deco designs from many ancient cultures, like those in Mesoamerica, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and Ancient Egypt.
How Was It Built?
The Visalia Post Office has a strong steel frame, brick walls, and a flat roof. It even has a reinforced concrete basement. The inside of the building shows how much care went into its construction. The lobby has elegant marble and the colorful terrazzo floor. The workroom, where postal workers sort mail, has a special floor made of parquet, which means small pieces of wood are laid in a pattern. The postmaster's offices have classic oak floors.
This building is a great example of the high-quality work done during the Great Depression. Many government buildings from that time were built with incredible attention to detail and craftsmanship, providing jobs and lasting structures for communities.
Images for kids
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Visalia Town Center Post Office circa 1960
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The post office from Acequia Avenue in the 1940s or 1950s.
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The post office from Willow Street in the 1940s or 1950s.
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An aerial view of downtown Visalia, showing the post office.
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The post office in 2009.
