US Post Office Hoosick Falls
The US Post Office Hoosick Falls is the subsidiary of the United States Postal Service in Hoosick Falls , New York . It's on Main Street, just one block south of the Hoosick Falls Historic District . The brick building was built in the mid-1920s and uses ZIP code 12090, which includes Hoosick Falls and the surrounding area of the Town of Hoosick .
After the government acquired the land, it was nine years before the post office was built and opened. The post office is one of several similar structures in New York at the time, but it has retained its historical integrity better than the rest. Because of this, it was included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 and is the only other post office in Rensselaer County , besides the US Post Office Troy , that is entered in the National Register.
building
The post office is two blocks from downtown Hoosick Falls and is just outside the historic district. It is located on the west side of Main Street, across from a small park and the town hall of the Villages . North of the post office is a three story mixed use building that is a Contributing Property of the Historic District. South of the post office, on the other side of a small side street, there is a small, original residential building that has been converted for commercial purposes. To the west of the building is an associated parking lot and to the east of it is a small strip of lawn with a flagpole. The property slopes slightly to the west.
The building is one-story and has five bays each in length and width . It is made of wire-cut bricks and is rectangular. A loading ramp added later to the rear is not considered contributing. The exposed foundation is also made of bricks. At the eaves , there is a ledge of limestone on which a brick also the brick parapet sits. At the front (the east-facing facade) this parapet is interrupted by balustrades , which are arranged above the windows and the main entrance.
The main entrance is in the middle of the east side and is flanked on both sides by two large windows, which are located within flat arches set back . The doors are modern double doors made of aluminum. They are located within the original wooden door frame, which is framed by a pair of Ionic limestone pillars. Above it is a flat gable triangle , the inscription US POST OFFICE HOOSICK FALLS, NY 12090 is engraved on the entablature below . Between the entrance and the large windows in the arches there is a smaller window on either side. Concrete steps and iron railings lead out to the entrance, while a ramp for wheelchair users enables barrier-free access from the north .
The windows on the north and south sides have the middle yokes arranged in pairs with arches and brick window sills. The windows in the corner bays are identical to those on the main facade. Basement windows let light into the basement. On the back, three windows are originally, the other two were replaced by the loading ramp with flat roof that was built later .
A long vestibule leads to the counter hall with the publication boards, which is only minimally decorated. The floor with tile mosaic is white and has a green border. The walls have wooden paneling that extends to the plaster of paris ceiling.
history
The United States Congress approved the construction of the new post office in Hoosick Falls in 1913, which had grown significantly during the industrialization period between 1880 and the beginning of the 20th century as factories and textile mills exploited the hydropower on the Hoosic River that ran through the town flows. The post office was previously in rented premises on Church Street ( New York State Route 22 ), one block from where it is now.
In the next legislature, the Congress gave a total of 80,000 US dollars (adjusted for inflation 1,180,000 US dollars) free to build the post office. The government first bought the property in 1916 for $ 13,451 ($ 322,666 adjusted for inflation), but it wasn't until seven years later, in 1923, that the construction plans were made. Construction of the post office began the following year and the new post office was opened in 1925. According to the documents, the building was designed by James A. Wetmore, the then chief architect of the United States Department of the Treasury . It is likely that the design was not made by him, but by Louis A. Simon, who succeeded him in this office and held it until it was dissolved in 1939.
The Hoosick Falls Post Office is one of a group of six post offices built in New York State in the mid-1920s. Her designs all show the clear influence of neoclassical architecture, in particular through the symmetrical front facades with the set-back arches as well as the beams and balustrades for decoration. Two other of these post offices - Owego and Waterloo - are also registered in the National Register, the remaining three (Cohoes, Saranac Lake and Walden) are not. A similar design was used in the construction of the US Post Office Lyons six years later.
The loading ramp on the west side was added in 1956. Apart from that, the building has not been significantly changed.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Larry Gobrecht: National Register of Historic Places nomination, US Post Office-Hoosick Falls ( English ) New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . December 1986. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
Coordinates: 42 ° 54 '2 " N , 73 ° 21' 3" W.