United States Post Office (Beacon, New York) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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U.S. Post Office
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East profile and north elevation, 2006
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | Beacon, NY |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1937 |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| MPS | US Post Offices in New York State, 1858-1943, TR |
| NRHP reference No. | 88002456 |
The U.S. Post Office in Beacon, New York, is a special building. It's on Main Street and handles mail for the ZIP Code 12508. This covers all of Beacon and parts of the nearby Town of Fishkill.
This post office is made of stone and was built in the mid-1930s. Its design is called Dutch Colonial Revival. In 1988, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This list includes many old and important buildings across the country.
While many post offices from that time looked similar, this one is special. It's built with rough, natural stones called fieldstone. Not many other post offices built during the New Deal used this material. Most of the others are also in Dutchess County, along the Hudson River.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt liked this style. He wanted new post offices in his home area to look like the homes of his Dutch ancestors. They were some of the first people to settle the Hudson Valley. The success of the Beacon post office might have encouraged him to use this style more.
This building was also the only federal building in New York designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood. He usually designed large buildings in national parks out West. Inside, artist Charles Rosen painted a map of the Hudson Valley. He also painted murals showing historical events in the area. The building still looks much like it did when it was first built.
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What Does the Building Look Like?
The Beacon Post Office is on the south side of Main Street. It's near the corner of Main and Veterans Street. The area around it is busy, with other large buildings.
The post office sits close to both Main and Veterans streets. There are some evergreen trees on one side. A white birch tree stands on the front side. A small driveway leads to a parking lot behind the building.
Outside the Post Office
The building is a single story and shaped like a rectangle. It's covered in rough fieldstone. The middle part of the building sticks out a bit. It has a cross-shaped roof covered with slate. In the center of the roof is a small tower called a cupola.
Three short steps lead to the main entrance. The wooden double doors have decorative lanterns on each side. Above the doors is a window with 18 small panes. The windows on either side of the entrance are large and have eight panes. Other windows have six panes over six panes. There's also a covered platform at the back for loading mail.
The front of the building has a decorative edge called a cornice. It goes around the triangular part of the roof, called a pediment. Inside this triangle is a stucco area with a metal eagle. Below it, metal letters spell out "United States Post Office Beacon New York."
The cupola on the roof has three parts. The bottom part is square. Above it, there's a section with arched windows. The top part is octagonal with vents. The cupola's roof is shaped like a curved cone. It has a weathervane on top.
Inside the Post Office
When you enter, you step into a small area called a vestibule. The floor is made of white marble with gray lines. The lower part of the walls, about six feet high, is also marble. This is where the post office boxes are. There's also a large window where customers can get help.
Above the marble, the walls have a large mural. It shows a map of the Hudson Valley, with county lines and famous places. At the ends of the room, the murals show local landscapes like Beacon Mountain. Above the murals, there's a decorative band with metal grilles.
Four glass globes hang from the ceiling, lighting up the room. Customer tables are made of glass with metal stands. In one corner, a railing leads to the basement stairs. The back of the building has offices and sorting rooms for mail.
A Look Back in Time
Beacon became a city in 1913. It was formed when two smaller villages, Matteawan and Fishkill Landing, joined together. The city got its name from Beacon Mountain. During the Revolutionary War, bonfires were lit on this mountain. They warned the Continental Army if British ships were coming up the river.
Beacon's first post office was in a different building. The government rented that building. But they always planned to own their own post office. In 1931, a law allowed over a hundred new post offices to be built in New York. This was an early step to help with the Great Depression's economic problems.
Work on the Beacon post office began in 1935. Congress approved $110,000 for the project. It took two years to finish.
Choosing the Colonial Revival style for the new post office was common. Many new post offices in smaller towns used this style. The Beacon post office has many features of this style. These include large windows, a balanced design, gabled roofs with a cupola, and triangular pediments.
What makes the Beacon post office special is its use of local fieldstone. Usually, brick was used for government buildings in this style. Beacon's was the first fieldstone post office in New York. Only a few others used it. Most of them are also in Dutchess County, like in Wappingers Falls, Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park, and Rhinebeck.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was from Dutchess County, liked the use of fieldstone. It was a popular building material for the early Dutch settlers in the area. He may have encouraged its use in other post offices. He even stepped in when people in Ellenville wanted stone instead of brick for their post office.
Architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood was good with stone. He had used it for buildings in national parks out West. He worked for the Treasury Department to help with all the new public building projects during Roosevelt's New Deal. The Beacon post office was the only federal building he designed in New York. It was also a rare small building for him, as he usually designed much larger ones.
Inside, artist Charles Rosen painted the murals. He was chosen by the Treasury's Relief Arts Project. This program helped artists during the Depression. Rosen painted the large map of the Hudson Valley. He and his helper, Clarence Bolton, also painted small local landscapes. Later, Rosen painted similar landscapes for the post office in Poughkeepsie.
Since the post office was built, some windows have been changed. But most of the building still looks like it did when it was first opened.
Images for kids
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East profile and north elevation, 2006
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Lobby
