The United States Post Office–Wakefield Main is a historic post office building at 321 Main Street in
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. Built in 1936 as part of a Depression-era works project, it is a Classical Revival structure that harmonizes with its neighbors. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1987,
and included in the
Common District in 1990.
[
]
Description and history
The Wakefield Post Office is set on the west side of Main Street, at the southwest corner with Yale Avenue. A single-story Classical Revival brick and limestone building, it stands between two other Classical Revival buildings, the former YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
, and the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library. Its front facade is five bays wide, the center three recessed behind a pair of fluted Doric columns and flanking square pillars, which are also found at the building corners. The pillars support a stone entablature, above which is a parapet obscuring the building's flat roof. The outer bays each have a large sash window, above which are circular panels with decorative plaques, giving the building a hint of the then-popular Art Moderne style.
Wakefield's first post office was in the private home of its postmaster, David Norcross, at Main and Chestnut Streets. In 1860, after a series of moves occasioned by the change of postmaster, it was located in commercial spaces in the downtown. The current structure was built by the federal government as a Depression-era works project, which including hiring a local architect, Edward M. Bridge, to design it.[
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See also
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*List of United States post offices
Several United States post offices are individually notable and have operated under the authority of the United States Post Office Department (1792–1971) or the United States Postal Service (since 1971). Notable U.S. post offices include indivi ...
References
Government buildings completed in 1936
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...
Neoclassical architecture in Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Wakefield, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Wakefield, Massachusetts
Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts
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