The Martin Olav Sabo Post Office is the central

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

for the city of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Located on the west bank of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, the facility extends west to east from

Hennepin Avenue Bridge The Hennepin Avenue Bridge is a suspension bridge that carries Hennepin County State Aid Highway 52, Hennepin Avenue, across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, at Nicollet Island. Officially, it is the Father Loui ...

to the Third Avenue Bridge and north to south from the West River Parkway on the

Grand Rounds Scenic Byway The Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway is a linked series of park areas in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, that takes a roughly circular path through the city. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board developed the system over many years. ...

to First Street. Its ZIP code is 55401.

History

Ard Godfrey operated the area's first post office in the village of Saint Anthony on the Mississippi's east bank during the early 1850s. At first unpredictably, deliveries came by messenger from

Fort Snelling Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint An ...

through

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

. Later, mail arrived by

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

every ten to fourteen days. The first post office in Minneapolis was built on the west bank on High Street in 1854 and operated by postmaster Hezekiah Fletcher. The present day post office was completed in 1933 and occupies nearly the same site. The main building faced Pioneer Square park, which is now occupied by an apartment tower. A companion federal office building at a right angle to the post office on the park's western perimeter was suggested in 1934 but not built. A seven-level parking ramp and loading dock for bulk mail were added to the west in 1976. In 2023, it was renamed in honor of former Minnesota Congressman

Martin Olav Sabo Martin Olav Sabo (February 28, 1938 – March 13, 2016) was an American politician who served as United States House of Representatives, United States Representative for , which includes Minneapolis; the district is one of eight Minnesota Congre ...

Structure and interior

Minneapolis Post Office interior 2017-07-29

The post office was built of granite and stone in the

PWA Moderne The Art Deco style, which originated in France just before World War I, had an important impact on architecture and design in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. The most notable examples are the skyscrapers of New York City, including the ...

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style at the cost of $4.5 million or about $64 million in 2006 USD. Léon Eugène Arnal, the chief designer for the architects Magney & Tusler, designed the building. Between 1885 and 1946, Magney & Tusler designed the post office, and designed or co-designed the

Foshay Tower The Foshay Tower, now the W Minneapolis – The Foshay hotel, is a skyscraper in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Modeled after the Washington Monument, the building was completed in 1929, months before the stock market crash in October of that year. It ...

downtown, the Calhoun Beach Club on

Bde Maka Ska Bde Maka Ska ( , previously named Lake Calhoun) is the largest lake in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, and part of the city's Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway#Paths_around_lakes, Chain of Lakes. Surrounded by city park land and circled b ...

, the Lehmann Center on Lake Street, the Young-Quinlan Department Store on the

Nicollet Mall Nicollet Mall ( ) is a twelve-block portion of Nicollet Avenue running through Downtown Minneapolis, Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is a shopping and dining district of the city, and also a pedestrian mall and transit mall. A ...

and the former home of Teener's Theatrical costume and props store on

Hennepin Avenue Hennepin Avenue is a major street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It runs from Lakewood Cemetery (at West 36th Street), north through the Uptown, Minneapolis, Uptown District of Southwest Minneapolis, through the Virginia Triangle, the ...

among other buildings in Minneapolis. The firm was later known as Setter, Leach & Lindstrom, acquired by Leo A. Daly in 2003. and and and The main building is long. Its interior is unchanged and postal customers still utilize its original

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

teller cages and fixtures, marble

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bind ...

floor and sandstone walls. Perhaps the longest light fixture in the world, a 350-foot (107 m), 16-ton (16256.8 kg) bronze chandelier runs the length of the

lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians * Lobby (food), a thick stew made in Leigh, Greater Manchester and North Staffordshire, like ...

, originally designed to regulate temperature. Peepholes were installed in the corridors so that inspectors could protect the mail and observe employees. The main building contained a three-room suite paneled in

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

for the postmaster,

recreation room A recreation room (also known as a rec room, rumpus room, play room, playroom, games room, or ruckus room) is a room (architecture), room used for a variety of purposes, such as Party, parties, Game, games and other everyday or casual activities. ...

s and a hospital unit for employees as well as a

rifle range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue, or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or shooting sport, competitions. ...

in the basement.

References

External links

* {{coord, 44.983265, -93.265032, region:US-MN_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Government buildings completed in 1933 Art Deco architecture in Minnesota Buildings and structures in Minneapolis Post office buildings in Minnesota

History

Structure and interior

References

Further reading

External links