United States Post Office (Saratoga Springs, New York) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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U.S. Post Office
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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(2020)
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| Location | 475 Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY |
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| Built | 1910 |
| Architect | James Knox Taylor |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| Part of | Broadway Historic District |
| MPS | U.S. Post Offices in New York State, 1858–1943, TR |
| NRHP reference No. | 88002427 |
| Added to NRHP | 1989 |
The U.S. Post Office in Saratoga Springs, New York, is a special building. It is located at 475 Broadway, right in the middle of the city. This building was finished in 1910. It is made of brick and built in a style called Classical Revival.
A famous architect named James Knox Taylor designed it. He was the main architect for the United States government at that time. This post office handles mail for the area with the ZIP Code 12866. This covers the whole city of Saratoga Springs.
When it first opened, this post office had one of the most beautiful entrance halls (lobbies) in New York State. In the 1930s, two paintings (murals) showing the city's famous horse track were added. Even though the lobby has changed a bit over time, the building still looks mostly like it did when it was new. Because of its history and design, it was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. It was also already part of the Broadway Historic District, a special historical area, since 1978.
Contents
What the Building Looks Like
The post office is set back a little from Broadway street. There are big trees and some plants between the sidewalk and the road. It is one of four important buildings at this busy intersection.
Across the street, you can see the city's city hall, which is built in an Italian style. On another corner is the large and fancy Ainsworth Building. The Adirondack Trust Company bank building, built in 1916 in a grand Beaux-Arts style, faces the post office across Church Street.
The post office building is shaped like a rectangle. It has one floor and is made of yellow pressed brick. It sits on a strong base of smooth granite. Both marble and limestone are used for decoration.
Above the windows, there is a decorative band of limestone with an "egg-and-dart" pattern. Above that, there is a section with a geometric pattern made of red and yellow brick. The roof's edge has a fancy design with small blocks. The short wall around the roof has limestone on top. Over the main entrance, this wall is taller and has decorative brackets.
Main Entrance Details
The middle part of the front of the building sticks out. It has a round arch with simple molding. This arch is held up by tall, freestanding Doric columns made of shiny, patterned marble. Behind the columns, there is a bronze screen with windows at the top and the main doors below.
Granite steps with a bronze railing lead up to the entrance. The original heavy bronze doors are still there, but newer aluminum doors are used for everyday entry. A "Greek key design" (a maze-like pattern) decorates the area around the doors. The words "POST OFFICE" are written above.
The windows on either side of the main entrance, and the windows on the far ends of the north and south sides, look similar. However, their columns stand on a raised base with a railing. Other windows on the north and south sides are set back into the wall. Their simple limestone sills are held up by brackets. These windows have arches with wooden strips that fan out.
A small, tall window is located between the main entrance section and the next part of the building. On the south side, a wheelchair ramp goes up to provide access. The north side has an open brick loading dock at the back.
Inside the Lobby
Inside, the lobby has a high ceiling, about 14 feet (4.3 meters) tall. It has square sunken panels and a central stained glass window in the ceiling (a skylight). This skylight is curved to match the back wall.
The walls themselves have arches set back into them, topped with an egg-and-dart pattern. The entrance arch has a similar design. On either side of the entrance area, there are two paintings by Guy Pène du Bois. These paintings are called Saratoga in the Racing Season and show scenes from the horse track.
The floor now has modern carpet. The lower part of the walls has a white marble baseboard and green marble wainscoting (wood paneling). A 9-foot (3 meter) tall wall with post office boxes divides the lobby in half. The windows where you can buy stamps or send mail are on the north side.
History of the Post Office
Saratoga Springs has had a post office since 1802. That's when the city's founder, Gideon Putnam, built its first resort hotel. The first two post offices were located inside local stores. Later in the 1800s, the post office moved to an office building, also on Broadway, the city's main street. The land for the current building was bought for almost $125,000 in the early 1900s.
Design and Style
This building was one of the last ones designed by James Knox Taylor. He was the main architect for the Treasury Department at the time. He liked to use the neoclassical style for government buildings. This style used ideas from ancient Greek and Roman buildings. He felt this style showed the ideals of the country's Founding Fathers.
The Saratoga post office has arched openings, like two other post offices Taylor designed in New York (in Johnstown and Ithaca). However, its Renaissance Revival touches, like the columns and decorative brickwork, are only found in one other of his New York post offices, in Olean. These features help the post office building fit in well with the other buildings at the intersection. The city hall and Ainsworth Block across Broadway also have Italian Renaissance-inspired features. The bank building on the next corner of Church Street has classical decorations too.
Changes Over Time
When the building first opened, its lobby was one of the most detailed in the state. Some of this has changed because the original wall with mailboxes was removed and replaced with a modern wall in the middle.
The famous murals were added in 1936–37 as part of a government art project called the Treasury Relief Art Project. The loading dock was added in 1961. In 1974, the lobby was changed again. The original lights outside the building have also been replaced. Other than these changes, the building has stayed mostly the same.
