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U.S. Post Office (Middleport, New York)
Encyclopedia
The U.S. Post Office in Middleport
, New York, is located at Main (state highway
s 31E
and 271
) and Church streets. It is a brick building erected in the late 1930s, serving the 14105 ZIP Code
, which covers the village of Middleport and surrounding areas of the towns of Hartland
and Royalton
.
It is one of only three in the state using that design, a modernist
form with Colonial Revival
details. Inside is a mural commissioned by the Treasury Department. In 1989 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
, the only listing currently in Middleport, as part of a large group of present and former post offices in the state, including three others in Niagara County
.
church from the 1840s; across Main is an early 20th-century bank building and 19th-century house. The other buildings in the area are houses from that period as well. The terrain is level, with the post office set back slightly from the street amid a landscaped area of ornamental shrubs and trees. A low hedge runs along the Church Street side. A parking lot is in the rear.
The building itself is a one-story steel frame
building on a raised foundation
of poured concretesided
in brick laid in English bond
. The five-bay
front facade
is distinguished by a projecting three-bay central pavilion with a bevel
ed-cornered hipped roof
covered in slate. All other roofs are flat
. Narrow stone coping
runs around the entire building at the roofline. A four-bay rear projection contains the loading dock
, with wood fascia
and cornice
.
The central pavilion has angled corners. Its east (front) facade
has a centrally located segmental arch entrance with brick surround, lintel and keystone. A carved metal eagle surmounts the door. "UNITED STATES POST OFFICE" is written in bronze
letters across the top of the facade, with "MIDDLEPORT NEW YORK" in smaller letters below. Three granite
steps lead up to the entrance from the sidewalk; a wheelchair ramp
runs from the top to the north along the facade. It is flanked by the original iron railings and lanterns, atop fluted
posts.
Modern aluminum and glass doors open into a small wooden vestibule
. The small lobby behind it takes up the front of the main section and the north wing. It is floored in terrazzo
. Above it is white marble wainscoting trimmed in oak. The tables are shaped to fit the angled corners. Most furnishings are original, with some alterations made to the teller grilles and lock boxes along with the installation of modern lighting. Above the door to the postmaster's office in the southeast of the building is Rural Highway, a mural by Marianne Appel depicting a contemporary farm scene.
was completed through the area in 1825. For the rest of the century it remained in various leased buildings on Main Street as the settlement grew, changed its name from Tea-Pot Hollow to Middleport and incorporated
as a village.
In 1939, as part of relief efforts during the Great Depression
, Congress authorized the construction of a post office building in the village, one of the last of over 200 in the state built in the 1930s. The government acquired the present site for $8,950 ($ in contemporary dollars) and demolished the village's trolley stop, a church social hall and house to make way for the new building. In May 1940 a Takoma Park, Maryland
, contractor began construction. The building was opened in January 1941, one of the last new post offices to be completed before Congress began diverting resources to preparing for war.
Louis Simon, the last Supervising Architect
of the Treasury Department
, used the Colonial Revival style as he had come to do for new post offices in small towns, part of the government's increasing standardization of its architecture. As with many of the other Colonial Revival post offices in New York, Middleport's was part of a group employing the same design with slight variations dictated by the site.
In this case, two others — Frankfort
and Lake George
— used the same Georgian
basic form with design elements more specifically associated with the contemporary Moderne
and Art Deco
styles, such as the angled corners, asymmetrical window panes and large expanses of brick above the windows. Middleport's differs from Lake George's only in the width of its front steps and the shape and decor of the lobby. He also used some design elements more specifically associated with the contemporary Moderne
and Art Deco
styles, such as the angled corners, asymmetrical window panes and large expanses of brick above the windows. Those buildings and Simon's similar Westhampton Beach
post office on Long Island
were all influenced by the Rockville Centre post office designed in 1937 by William Dewey Foster, which first combined the Colonial Revival form with modernism
.
Marianne Appel, a New York City-born artist, won the Treasury's Fine Arts Section's competition to paint the mural. It was added shortly after the opening. Her Depression-era murals have been described as having "transcend[ed] in design and technique the ordinary painting of the 1930s". There have been few changes to the building since.
Middleport, New York
Middleport is a village in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 1,917 at the 2000 census. The mail ZIP code is 14105. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, New York, is located at Main (state highway
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
s 31E
New York State Route 31E
New York State Route 31E is a state highway located in Western New York in the United States. It serves as a northerly alternate route of NY 31 between the village of Middleport in eastern Niagara County and the nearby village of Medina in Orleans County...
and 271
New York State Route 271
New York State Route 271 is a north–south state highway in eastern Niagara County, New York, in the United States. It primarily serves as Middleport's Main Street, connecting NY 31 in the south to NY 104 in the north. The southernmost portion of NY 271 is concurrent with...
) and Church streets. It is a brick building erected in the late 1930s, serving the 14105 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...
, which covers the village of Middleport and surrounding areas of the towns of Hartland
Hartland, New York
Hartland is a town in Niagara County, New York, USA.The population was 4,117 at the 2010 census.The town is named after Hartland, Vermont, the homeplace of some early settlers.The Town of Hartland is on the eastern border of the county.- History :...
and Royalton
Royalton, New York
Royalton is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 7,660 at the 2010 census.The Town of Royalton is in the southeast corner of the county and is east of the City of Niagara Falls.- History :...
.
It is one of only three in the state using that design, a 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...
form with 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...
details. Inside is a mural commissioned by the Treasury Department. 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...
, the only listing currently in Middleport, as part of a large group of present and former post offices in the state, including three others in Niagara County
Niagara County, New York
Niagara County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 216,469. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word Onguiaahra; meaning the strait or thunder of waters. It is the location of Niagara Falls and Fort Niagara, and...
.
Building
The post office is located on the northwest corner of the intersection, near the south end of Middleport's small downtown section, roughly 300 feet (90 m) south of the canal crossing. On the opposite corner is a cobblestoneCobblestone architecture
Cobblestone architecture refers to the use of cobblestones embedded in mortar as method for erecting walls on houses and commercial buildings.-History:Evidence of the use of cobblestones in building has been found in the ruins of Hierakonpolis...
church from the 1840s; across Main is an early 20th-century bank building and 19th-century house. The other buildings in the area are houses from that period as well. The terrain is level, with the post office set back slightly from the street amid a landscaped area of ornamental shrubs and trees. A low hedge runs along the Church Street side. A parking lot is in the rear.
The building itself is a one-story 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...
building on a raised 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:...
of poured concretesided
Siding
Siding is the outer covering or cladding of a house meant to shed water and protect from the effects of weather. On a building that uses siding, it may act as a key element in the aesthetic beauty of the structure and directly influence its property value....
in brick laid in English bond
Brickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up brick structures such as walls. Brickwork is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc...
. The 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:...
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"....
is distinguished by a projecting three-bay central pavilion with a bevel
Bevel
A beveled edge refers to an edge of a structure that is not perpendicular to the faces of the piece. The words bevel and chamfer overlap in usage; in general usage they are often interchanged, while in technical usage they may sometimes be differentiated as shown in the image at right.-Cutting...
ed-cornered hipped roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
covered in slate. All other roofs are flat
Flat roof
A flat roof is a type of covering of a building. In contrast to the sloped form of a roof, a flat roof is horizontal or nearly horizontal. Materials that cover flat roofs typically allow the water to run off freely from a very slight inclination....
. Narrow 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....
runs around the entire building at the roofline. A four-bay rear projection contains the 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 wood fascia
Fascia
A fascia is a layer of fibrous tissue that permeates the human body. A fascia is a connective tissue that surrounds muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, binding those structures together in much the same manner as plastic wrap can be used to hold the contents of sandwiches...
and 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...
.
The central pavilion has angled corners. Its east (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"....
has a centrally located segmental arch entrance with brick surround, lintel and keystone. A carved metal eagle surmounts the door. "UNITED STATES POST OFFICE" is written in bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
letters across the top of the facade, with "MIDDLEPORT NEW YORK" in smaller letters below. Three granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
steps lead up to the entrance from the sidewalk; 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....
runs from the top to the north along the facade. It is flanked by the original iron railings and lanterns, atop fluted
Fluting (architecture)
Fluting in architecture refers to the shallow grooves running vertically along a surface.It typically refers to the grooves running on a column shaft or a pilaster, but need not necessarily be restricted to those two applications...
posts.
Modern aluminum and glass doors open into a small 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 small lobby behind it takes up the front of the main section and the north wing. It 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...
. Above it is white marble wainscoting trimmed in oak. The tables are shaped to fit the angled corners. Most furnishings are original, with some alterations made to the teller grilles and lock boxes along with the installation of modern lighting. Above the door to the postmaster's office in the southeast of the building is Rural Highway, a mural by Marianne Appel depicting a contemporary farm scene.
History
Middleport's first post office was established in the store of James Northam, its first merchant, around the time the Erie CanalErie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
was completed through the area in 1825. For the rest of the century it remained in various leased buildings on Main Street as the settlement grew, changed its name from Tea-Pot Hollow to Middleport 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 1939, as part of relief efforts during 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...
, Congress authorized the construction of a post office building in the village, one of the last of over 200 in the state built in the 1930s. The government acquired the present site for $8,950 ($ in contemporary dollars) and demolished the village's trolley stop, a church social hall and house to make way for the new building. In May 1940 a Takoma Park, Maryland
Takoma Park, Maryland
Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., and part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea City," is a Tree City USA and a nuclear-free zone...
, contractor began construction. The building was opened in January 1941, one of the last new post offices to be completed before Congress began diverting resources to preparing for war.
Louis Simon, the last 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....
of the 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...
, used the Colonial Revival style as he had come to do for new post offices in small towns, part of the government's increasing standardization of its architecture. As with many of the other Colonial Revival post offices in New York, Middleport's was part of a group employing the same design with slight variations dictated by the site.
In this case, two others — Frankfort
U.S. Post Office (Frankfort, New York)
US Post Office-Frankfort is a historic post office building located at Frankfort in Herkimer County, New York, United States. It was built in 1940-1941, 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 A....
and Lake George
U.S. Post Office (Lake George, New York)
The U.S. Post Office in Lake George, New York, United States, is located at the corner of Canada Street and Kurosaka Lane . It is a small brick building constructed just before World War II...
— used the same Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
basic form with design elements more specifically associated with the contemporary Moderne
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...
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...
styles, such as the angled corners, asymmetrical window panes and large expanses of brick above the windows. Middleport's differs from Lake George's only in the width of its front steps and the shape and decor of the lobby. He also used some design elements more specifically associated with the contemporary Moderne
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...
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...
styles, such as the angled corners, asymmetrical window panes and large expanses of brick above the windows. Those buildings and Simon's similar Westhampton Beach
U.S. Post Office (Westhampton Beach, New York)
Westhampton Beach Post Office, the U.S. post office in Westhampton Beach, New York, is located at Main Street and Beach Road in Westhampton Beach, New York. It serves the ZIP code 11978 and is southeast of the Westhampton Post Office....
post office on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
were all influenced by the Rockville Centre post office designed in 1937 by William Dewey Foster, which first combined the Colonial Revival form with modernism
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...
.
Marianne Appel, a New York City-born artist, won the Treasury's Fine Arts Section's competition to paint the mural. It was added shortly after the opening. Her Depression-era murals have been described as having "transcend[ed] in design and technique the ordinary painting of the 1930s". There have been few changes to the building since.