U.S. Post Office (Pearl River, New York)
Encyclopedia
The U.S. Post Office in Pearl River
, New York, is located at the junction of Franklin and Main streets in the village's downtown. It is a brick building from the mid-1930s, serving the ZIP Code
10965, which covers the village.
Its design, an application of the Colonial Revival
architectural style
commonly used for post offices of that era, is unique to it. It shows a strong modernist
influence, with almost no ornament
on its exterior, and no public art
inside.
Im 1988 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
with many other contemporary post offices in the state, including four others in Rockland County
. Congress
renamed the building the Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr. Post Office Building in 2005, in honor of a local soldier missing in action
and presumed dead during the Vietnam War
until that year, when his remains were identified.
on that side. On the other side of the tracks is a large industrial complex.
The building itself is a one-story, five-by-five-bay
steel frame
structure with a concrete terrace
surrounding the exposed basement portions of the foundation on the west. It consists of a three-bay central pavilion with two recessed one-bay wings on either side. A loading dock
with canopy projects from the south into the employee parking lot. All three sections have a flat roof, with the central pavilion's slightly higher than the wings. They are faced in brick laid in common bond.
A molded
cast stone water table
surrounds the building at floor level. Windows are 15-over-15 double-hung sash
on the pavilion and eight-over-eight on the wings, with cast stone sills. The latter have recessed panels above them. Rooflines are marked by stone coping
sheathed in aluminum. On the east facade
, facing Main Street, a second entrance was installed in a section with a slight projecting cast stone cornice.
On the pavilion facade the windows rest on two cast stone panels. The main entrance between them has a cast stone surround with keystone
and denticulated cornice
. Above them, large bronze letters spell out "UNITED STATES POST OFFICE PEARL RIVER NEW YORK 10965" in the entablature
.
Two flights of stone stairs and a wheelchair ramp
to the west lead to the main entrance, a glazed modern aluminum door with large single-light transom
above. It opens into a wooden vestibule
. The lobby takes four of the five bays. It has terrazzo
flooring, a tall ceramic tile dado
and a foliate plaster cornice. Acoustic tiles cover the original plaster ceiling; modern fluorescent lighting and ceiling fans hang from them.
The customer tables and grilles over the teller windows are also original. The teller windows themselves have been combined into one large service window. In the northwest corner is the postmaster
's office; the rear of the building is given over to workspace.
A 1931 amendment to the Public Buildings Act
passed by Congress five years earlier authorized the construction of a new post office in Pearl River and many other communities, in order to relieve the economic hardship of the Great Depression
. Work did not begin until 1935; it was completed the following year.
As with many other post offices built at that time, the design was by Louis A. Simon, Treasury Department
Supervising Architect
. The Colonial Revival
style
used was also increasingly standard for post offices in smaller communities of that era. The basic form of the buiilding, its wide central projecting pavilion and narrow wings, is shared by other post offices in New York, including those in Moravia
and Watkins Glen
.
It differs from other post offices in that style and shape by reducing the former to essential elements. Without much decoration, it is identifiable as a Colonial Revival building through the basic symmetry of its arrangement of multi-paned windows and stone entrance surround. The flat roofs, absence of cornices and simple features of the main entrance suggest the influence of the Streamline Moderne
and Art Deco
movements of the time, which postal architects were increasingly acknowledging in the late 1930s.
In the 1960s, at various times, the loading dock was extended, its canopy added, and the side entrance reconfigured. Inside the original lighting was replaced. Later in the 20th century the wheelchair ramp
was added to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. There have been no other changes to the building.
In 2005, U.S. Representative Eliot Engel, whose district
includes Pearl River, introduced a bill in Congress to officially rename the post office after Heinz Ahlmeyer, a native who had joined the Marine Corps
as a second lieutenant
after graduating from SUNY New Paltz
. On Ahlmeyer's first day of service in Vietnam in 1967, leading a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol
unit along the Ho Chi Minh Trail
near Khe Sanh
, he was reported to have been killed; however, due to heavy small arms fire his body could not be retrieved at that time. They were identified in 2005 and he was buried with full honors at Arlington Cemetery. It became the second Register-listed post office in the county to be named in honor of a deceased local resident, after the 2004 renaming of the Nyack
post office
in memory of police officers slain in the 1981 Brinks robbery.
Pearl River, New York
Pearl River is a hamlet , in the Town of Orangetown Rockland County, New York, United States located east of Nauraushaun; north of the state of New Jersey; south of Nanuet and west of Blauvelt...
, New York, is located at the junction of Franklin and Main streets in the village's downtown. It is a brick building from the mid-1930s, serving the ZIP Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
10965, which covers the village.
Its design, an application of the Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
commonly used for post offices of that era, is unique to it. It shows a strong modernist
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
influence, with almost no ornament
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
on its exterior, and no public art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
inside.
Im 1988 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
with many other contemporary post offices in the state, including four others in Rockland County
Rockland County, New York
Rockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...
. Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
renamed the building the Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr. Post Office Building in 2005, in honor of a local soldier missing in action
Missing in action
Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively...
and presumed dead during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
until that year, when his remains were identified.
Building
The post office is located on the west side of Main Street, just south of its junction with Franklin Street on the east. It is oriented east-west, with its north (front) elevation facing the parking lot for the train station to its northwest. Across the parking lot to the north is Pearl River's town square; commercial buildings line its east side. The terrain slopes enough down to the railroad tracks to the west, exposing the post office's foundationFoundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
on that side. On the other side of the tracks is a large industrial complex.
The building itself is a one-story, five-by-five-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
steel frame
Steel frame
Steel frame usually refers to a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal -beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame...
structure with a concrete terrace
Terrace (building)
A terrace is an outdoor, occupiable extension of a building above ground level. Although its physical characteristics may vary to a great degree, a terrace will generally be larger than a balcony and will have an "open-top" facing the sky...
surrounding the exposed basement portions of the foundation on the west. It consists of a three-bay central pavilion with two recessed one-bay wings on either side. A loading dock
Loading dock
A loading dock is a recessed bay in a building or facility where trucks are loaded and unloaded. They are commonly found on commercial and industrial buildings, and warehouses in particular....
with canopy projects from the south into the employee parking lot. All three sections have a flat roof, with the central pavilion's slightly higher than the wings. They are faced in brick laid in common bond.
A molded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
cast stone water table
Water table (architecture)
A water table is a masonry architectural feature that consists of a projecting course that deflects water running down the face of a building away from lower courses or the foundation...
surrounds the building at floor level. Windows are 15-over-15 double-hung sash
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
on the pavilion and eight-over-eight on the wings, with cast stone sills. The latter have recessed panels above them. Rooflines are marked by stone coping
Coping (architecture)
Coping , consists of the capping or covering of a wall.A splayed or wedge coping slopes in a single direction; a saddle coping slopes to either side of a central high point....
sheathed in aluminum. On the east facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
, facing Main Street, a second entrance was installed in a section with a slight projecting cast stone cornice.
On the pavilion facade the windows rest on two cast stone panels. The main entrance between them has a cast stone surround with keystone
Keystone (architecture)
A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone piece at the apex of a masonry vault or arch, which is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch to bear weight. This makes a keystone very important structurally...
and denticulated cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
. Above them, large bronze letters spell out "UNITED STATES POST OFFICE PEARL RIVER NEW YORK 10965" in the entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
.
Two flights of stone stairs and a wheelchair ramp
Wheelchair ramp
A wheelchair ramp is an inclined plane installed in addition to or instead of stairs. Ramps permit wheelchair users, as well as people pushing strollers, carts, or other wheeled objects, to more easily access a building....
to the west lead to the main entrance, a glazed modern aluminum door with large single-light transom
Transom (architectural)
In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...
above. It opens into a wooden vestibule
Vestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
. The lobby takes four of the five bays. It has terrazzo
Terrazzo
Terrazzo is a composite material poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of marble, quartz, granite, glass or other suitable chips, sprinkled or unsprinkled, and poured with a binder that is cementitious, chemical or a combination of both...
flooring, a tall ceramic tile dado
Dado (architecture)
In architectural terminology, the dado, borrowed from Italian meaning die or plinth, is the lower part of a wall, below the dado rail and above the skirting board....
and a foliate plaster cornice. Acoustic tiles cover the original plaster ceiling; modern fluorescent lighting and ceiling fans hang from them.
The customer tables and grilles over the teller windows are also original. The teller windows themselves have been combined into one large service window. In the northwest corner is the postmaster
Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...
's office; the rear of the building is given over to workspace.
History
Pearl River's first post office was established in 1872. For most of the rest of the 19th century, it was one of the few buildings in the center of the village on the New York and New Jersey Railroad, later part of the New York and Erie Railroad network. Suburban development began in the early 20th century.A 1931 amendment to the Public Buildings Act
Public Buildings Act
The Public Buildings Act of 1926, also known as the Elliot-Fernald Act, was a statute which governed the construction of federal buildings throughout the United States, and authorized funding for this construction. Its primary sponsor in the House of Representatives was Representative Richard N...
passed by Congress five years earlier authorized the construction of a new post office in Pearl River and many other communities, in order to relieve the economic hardship of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Work did not begin until 1935; it was completed the following year.
As with many other post offices built at that time, the design was by Louis A. Simon, Treasury Department
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
Supervising Architect
Office of the Supervising Architect
The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939....
. The Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
used was also increasingly standard for post offices in smaller communities of that era. The basic form of the buiilding, its wide central projecting pavilion and narrow wings, is shared by other post offices in New York, including those in Moravia
Moravia (village), New York
Moravia is a village in Cayuga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,363 at the 2000 census.The Village of Moravia is in the south part of the Town of Moravia and is south of Auburn, New York....
and Watkins Glen
U.S. Post Office (Watkins Glen, New York)
US Post Office-Watkins Glen is a historic post office building located at Watkins Glen in Schuyler County, New York. It was designed and built in 1934-1935 and is one of a number of post offices in New York State designed by the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department, Louis...
.
It differs from other post offices in that style and shape by reducing the former to essential elements. Without much decoration, it is identifiable as a Colonial Revival building through the basic symmetry of its arrangement of multi-paned windows and stone entrance surround. The flat roofs, absence of cornices and simple features of the main entrance suggest the influence of the Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s...
and Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
movements of the time, which postal architects were increasingly acknowledging in the late 1930s.
In the 1960s, at various times, the loading dock was extended, its canopy added, and the side entrance reconfigured. Inside the original lighting was replaced. Later in the 20th century the wheelchair ramp
Wheelchair ramp
A wheelchair ramp is an inclined plane installed in addition to or instead of stairs. Ramps permit wheelchair users, as well as people pushing strollers, carts, or other wheeled objects, to more easily access a building....
was added to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. There have been no other changes to the building.
In 2005, U.S. Representative Eliot Engel, whose district
New York's 17th congressional district
New York's 17th Congressional District is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in Southern New York. It encompasses portions of the Bronx, Westchester County, and Rockland County...
includes Pearl River, introduced a bill in Congress to officially rename the post office after Heinz Ahlmeyer, a native who had joined the Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
after graduating from SUNY New Paltz
State University of New York at New Paltz
The State University of New York at New Paltz, known as SUNY New Paltz for short, is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It was founded in 1828 as the School for teaching of classics. In 1885, the New Paltz Normal and Training School was established as a school to prepare teachers for the...
. On Ahlmeyer's first day of service in Vietnam in 1967, leading a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols, or LRRPs , were special small four to six-man teams in the Vietnam War on highly dangerous special reconnaissance missions deep into enemy territory....
unit along the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Ho Chi Minh trail
The Ho Chi Minh trail was a logistical system that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Vietnam through the neighboring kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia...
near Khe Sanh
Khe Sanh
Khe Sanh is the district capital of Hướng Hoá District, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam, located 63 km west of Đông Hà.Khe Sanh Combat Base was a United States Marine Corps outpost in South Vietnam used during the Vietnam War. The airstrip was built in September 1962...
, he was reported to have been killed; however, due to heavy small arms fire his body could not be retrieved at that time. They were identified in 2005 and he was buried with full honors at Arlington Cemetery. It became the second Register-listed post office in the county to be named in honor of a deceased local resident, after the 2004 renaming of the Nyack
Nyack, New York
Nyack is a village in the towns of Orangetown and Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of South Nyack; east of Central Nyack; south of Upper Nyack and west of the Hudson River, approximately 19 miles north of the Manhattan boundary, it is an inner suburb of New...
post office
U.S. Post Office (Nyack, New York)
The U.S. Post Office in Nyack, New York, is located on South Broadway in the center of the village. It serves the 10960 ZIP Code, which covers South Nyack and Upper Nyack in addition to the village....
in memory of police officers slain in the 1981 Brinks robbery.