U.S. Post Office (Spring Valley, New York)
Encyclopedia
The U.S. Post Office in Spring Valley
, New York, is located on North Madison Street. It is a brick building from the mid-1930s that serves the ZIP Code
10977, covering the village of Spring Valley.
Its Colonial Revival
design, unique to Spring Valley among post offices in New York, emphasizes the Greek Revival
precedents of the style. Its interior, like many other post offices built during the New Deal
, features public art
, in this case a mural. In 1989 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
along with many other post offices in the state.
) in downtown Spring Valley. The area is heavily developed, with many parking lots and commercial buildings. A few churches and houses are scattered among them. The terrain slopes slightly down to the east, into the valley of a small tributary
of Pascack Brook
.
A row of mature trees rises along the rear of the property. To the south is the post office's parking lot, complementing a municipal lot across the street. The small lot on the Church Street corner is undeveloped and open. To the rear is a tire dealership.
The building itself has two sections. The main block is a one-story five-by-five-bay
steel frame
structure on a low stone foundation
with water table
. It is faced in red brick laid in common bond. The central three bays are topped with a shallow-pitched
gable
d roof. A covered loading dock
extends west from the southwest corner of that side.
On the eastern (front) facade
, the three bays under the gable form a slightly projecting pavilion. The main entrance is located in a slightly recessed round-arched entryway. Flanking it are similarly-shaped windows, consisting of paired four-over-four double-hung sash
topped by a transom
with radiating sash. Four brick pilaster
s with simple stone capitals
divide the bays and mark the corners. They support a wooden frieze
, with "United States Post Office Spring Valley New York 10977" spelled in affixed metal letters, below the pediment
.
The two wings have flat roofs pierced by brick chimneys topped with steel air handlers. On the front they have one six-over-six window. The west (rear) facade echoes the front with three large sash windows.
Stone steps on a brick base, flanked by a wheelchair ramp
on the north, lead up to the main entrance. They are accompanied by the original wrought iron
railings and one original lamppost, slightly modified. The main entrance is surrounded by elaborate wooden decoration
, with flanking half-pilasters and sidelights rising past a recessed paneled frieze to an entablature
with triglyph
s. A semicircular transom with radiating muntins, slightly different from those on the flanking windows, surmounts the entrance.
Modern aluminum doors open into a wooden vestibule
at the center of one arm of an L-shaped lobby covering all but the northern bay of the front. That arm is floored in terrazzo
, with the south arm in vinyl
. A gray marble
dado
runs around the wall, and pilasters mark the corners. A molded
cornice on the wall marks the plaster ceiling where modern fluorescent lights have replaced the original fixtures. There is also an original wooden cornice over the teller windows, which have been widened and surrounded with blue Formica
.
Above the door to the postmaster's office in the northeastern corner of the building is a mural
, Waiting for the Mail, by Stephen Etnier
. Its three panels depict the wing of an airplane, a man waiting against a fence, and the bow of a ship. It was restored in the mid-1980s.
and incorporated
as a village in 1902.
In 1931, Congress authorized 136 new post offices and extensions to existing ones in New York as part of an amendment to the Public Buildings Act
it had passed five years earlier. The construction was meant to offer relief with the worsening of the Great Depression
. Spring Valley's would not begin construction for another five years, in 1936. The site was purchased from a local lumber company that year. Construction began later that year, and the building opened in 1937.
Its Colonial Revival
design, by Treasury Department
Supervising Architect
Louis A. Simon, is unique to Spring Valley among the many Colonial Revival post offices in the state, many of which use variations on a basic design. Other post offices in the state, such as Fredonia
, Massena and Warsaw
, use a projecting three-bay central pavilion with arched windows flanked by single-bay flat-roofed wings. Only Spring Valley's emphasizes the Greek Revival
precedents of the style
with the pilasters and pediment. Another architect, Jackson Flournoy, used them on his post office in the Queens neighborhood of Jackson Heights
, also listed on the Register.
Etnier's mural, meant to show how mail could and did reach even the most isolated people and linked the world, was added in 1938. Later renovations enlarged the lobby teller windows and added modern lighting. There have been no other significant changes to the building.
Spring Valley, New York
Spring Valley, incorporated on July 9, 1902 is a village spanning the Town of Ramapo and Town of Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Nanuet; east of Airmont and Monsey; south of Hillcrest and west of West Nyack...
, New York, is located on North Madison Street. It is a brick building from the mid-1930s that serves 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...
10977, covering the village of Spring Valley.
Its 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...
design, unique to Spring Valley among post offices in New York, emphasizes the Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
precedents of the style. Its interior, like many other post offices built during the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
, features 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...
, in this case a mural. In 1989 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...
along with many other post offices in the state.
Building
The post office is located on the west side of North Madison Avenue between Church and Commerce streets, one block west of North Main Street (New York State Route 45New York State Route 45
New York State Route 45 is a north–south state highway in central Rockland County, New York, United States. It spans from the village of Chestnut Ridge at the New Jersey – New York border, where it becomes County Route 73 in Bergen County, New Jersey, to U.S. Route 202 in...
) in downtown Spring Valley. The area is heavily developed, with many parking lots and commercial buildings. A few churches and houses are scattered among them. The terrain slopes slightly down to the east, into the valley of a small tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of Pascack Brook
Pascack Brook
The Pascack Brook is a tributary of the Hackensack River in Bergen County, New Jersey in the United States. It forms a region known as the Pascack Valley. The brook is dammed to form the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir in the town of Woodcliff Lake...
.
A row of mature trees rises along the rear of the property. To the south is the post office's parking lot, complementing a municipal lot across the street. The small lot on the Church Street corner is undeveloped and open. To the rear is a tire dealership.
The building itself has two sections. The main block 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 on a low stone foundation
Foundation (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:...
with water table
Water table
The water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. However, saturated conditions may extend above the water table as...
. It is faced in red brick laid in common bond. The central three bays are topped with a shallow-pitched
Roof pitch
In building construction, roof pitch is a numerical measure of the steepness of a roof, and a pitched roof is a roof that is steep.The roof's pitch is the measured vertical rise divided by the measured horizontal span, the same thing as what is called "slope" in geometry. Roof pitch is typically...
gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d roof. A covered 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....
extends west from the southwest corner of that side.
On the eastern (front) 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"....
, the three bays under the gable form a slightly projecting pavilion. The main entrance is located in a slightly recessed round-arched entryway. Flanking it are similarly-shaped windows, consisting of paired four-over-four 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...
topped by a 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...
with radiating sash. Four brick pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s with simple stone capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
divide the bays and mark the corners. They support a wooden frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
, with "United States Post Office Spring Valley New York 10977" spelled in affixed metal letters, below the pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
.
The two wings have flat roofs pierced by brick chimneys topped with steel air handlers. On the front they have one six-over-six window. The west (rear) facade echoes the front with three large sash windows.
Stone steps on a brick base, flanked by 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....
on the north, lead up to the main entrance. They are accompanied by the original wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
railings and one original lamppost, slightly modified. The main entrance is surrounded by elaborate wooden decoration
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...
, with flanking half-pilasters and sidelights rising past a recessed paneled frieze to an 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 ,...
with triglyph
Triglyph
Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze, so called because of the angular channels in them, two perfect and one divided, the two chamfered angles or hemiglyphs being reckoned as one. The square recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric...
s. A semicircular transom with radiating muntins, slightly different from those on the flanking windows, surmounts the entrance.
Modern aluminum doors open 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...
at the center of one arm of an L-shaped lobby covering all but the northern bay of the front. That arm is floored in 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...
, with the south arm in vinyl
Vinyl
A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group ,which are derivatives of ethene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group...
. A gray marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
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....
runs around the wall, and pilasters mark the corners. 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...
cornice on the wall marks the plaster ceiling where modern fluorescent lights have replaced the original fixtures. There is also an original wooden cornice over the teller windows, which have been widened and surrounded with blue Formica
Formica
Formica is a genus of ants of the family Formicidae, commonly known as wood ants, mound ants, or field ants. Formica is the type genus of the Formicidae, and of the subfamily Formicinae...
.
Above the door to the postmaster's office in the northeastern corner of the building is a mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
, Waiting for the Mail, by Stephen Etnier
Stephen Etnier
Stephen Morgan Etnier was an American realist painter, painting for six decades. His work is distinguished by a mixture of realism and luminism, favoring industrial and working scenes, but always imbued with atmospheric light...
. Its three panels depict the wing of an airplane, a man waiting against a fence, and the bow of a ship. It was restored in the mid-1980s.
History
Spring Valley's first post office was established in 1848, seven years after local farmers persuaded the New York and Erie Railroad to build a stop where a farm road (now North Main Street) crossed the tracks. The settlement grew rapidly due to the rail connection to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and incorporated
Municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...
as a village in 1902.
In 1931, Congress authorized 136 new post offices and extensions to existing ones in New York as part of an 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...
it had passed five years earlier. The construction was meant to offer relief with the worsening 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...
. Spring Valley's would not begin construction for another five years, in 1936. The site was purchased from a local lumber company that year. Construction began later that year, and the building opened in 1937.
Its 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...
design, by 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....
Louis A. Simon, is unique to Spring Valley among the many Colonial Revival post offices in the state, many of which use variations on a basic design. Other post offices in the state, such as Fredonia
U.S. Post Office (Fredonia, New York)
US Post Office—Fredonia is a historic post office building located at Fredonia in Chautauqua County, New York and within the boundaries of the Fredonia Commons Historic District...
, Massena and Warsaw
U.S. Post Office (Warsaw, New York)
US Post Office-Warsaw is a historic post office building located at Warsaw in Wyoming County, New York. It was designed and built in 1934-1935 as a Works Progress Administration project, and is one of a number of post offices in New York State designed by the Office of the Supervising Architect of...
, use a projecting three-bay central pavilion with arched windows flanked by single-bay flat-roofed wings. Only Spring Valley's emphasizes the Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
precedents of the 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...
with the pilasters and pediment. Another architect, Jackson Flournoy, used them on his post office in the Queens neighborhood of Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights, Queens
Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the Northwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York, New York, United States. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 3...
, also listed on the Register.
Etnier's mural, meant to show how mail could and did reach even the most isolated people and linked the world, was added in 1938. Later renovations enlarged the lobby teller windows and added modern lighting. There have been no other significant changes to the building.