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U.S. Post Office (Hyde Park, New York)
Encyclopedia
The U.S. Post Office in Hyde Park
, New York, serves the 12538 ZIP Code
. It is a stone
building in the Dutch Colonial Revival architectural style
, located on East Market Street (Dutchess County
Route 41) just east of US 9.
It is a stone building modeled on an early house in the region. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
, a native of Hyde Park, took a personal interest in the construction of the new building during the New Deal
. A series of murals inside depict major events in local history. In 1988 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
is to the north; St. James Chapel
is across East Market to the southeast. A decorative stone wellhead sits to the west, near the actual corner.
Its front facade
, four bays
wide, faces south. The two-story main block is faced in fieldstone
in a random ashlar
pattern. Windows have louver
ed shutters
It is topped with a hipped roof
with boxed wooden cornice
and plain modillions. The main entrance, in the western bay, has a small pediment
ed wooden porch with square piers.
Two -story wings, on the east and west, have gable
d roofs with clapboard
siding
in the gable ends. The cornices are shallower. The west wing has an entrance with paneled reveal and transom
light. A larger, later wing extends from the north, of brick in common bond with a gambrel roof and cornice echoing the main roof. It ends in a loading platform.
Inside, the lobby has a flagstone
floor and wainscoting. Around the upper wall on three sides are murals of Hyde Park's history. Much of the woodworking and finishes are original. A small display case holds the trowel
used by Roosevelt at the groundbreaking ceremony.
A century and a half later, Franklin D. Roosevelt took it upon himself as president to promote the use of the Dutch Colonial Revival style, and fieldstone
, for new instutional buildings in his native Hudson Valley
. He had personally made sure that new post offices in Poughkeepsie
and later Rhinebeck, to the south and north, were built that way. Postmaster General
James Farley
asked him if he wanted to address Hyde Park's needs next, but the president told him to get Rhinebeck's post office built first since it had the greater need.
In his speech at the 1939 groundbreaking for the Rhinebeck post office
, he jokingly warned Farley and Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr.
that they would not keep their jobs unless they made sure that there would be federal money available to build a new post office in Hyde Park. Rudolph Stanley-Mills, a former Treasury architect by then in private practice, was chosen to design a building for Roosevelt's ultimate approval, due to his successful work on Rhinebeck, Wappingers Falls
and other stone post offices in the region. The president insisted on stone even though Bard's house had been frame
.
The site was chosen and purchased in April 1940 for a cost of $15,000 ($ in contemporary dollars). Three houses were removed and demolished to clear a site for the new building. Stones, larger and more regular in size and shape than those used on the other four stone post offices in the county, was procured from old stone walls on a farm owned by onew of Bard's descendants. In November the president laid the cornerstone
for the almost complete building;
He personally chose the 1772 clapboard
house built (but by then demolished) for early settler John Bard as the model for the structure. Stone for the building was taken from stone wall
s on land once owned by Bard's son Samuel. The next year, he helped lay the cornerstone
for the new building, which opened the following year.
The brick rear wing was added in 1963, and some modern light fixtures have been installed. Other than that the building is as it was when opened.
s in the lobby depicting Hyde Park's history, from Henry Hudson
's Halve Maen
docking in the nearby Hudson River
during his 1609 voyage, to Britain
's King George VI
visiting Roosevelt at his house
the year before. He had previously painted similar scenes in the Rhinebeck post office.
Public art in the building caused a local controversy in 2001. The postmaster had instituted a local "Artist of the Month" program which, in October of that year, featured Fatgirl, a painting of the clothed torso and midsection of an obese woman by Audrey Martin. After the post office received several verbal and one written complaint, it was removed from the building. Protests of censorship
from the local arts community drew nationwide sympathy and support, but the Postal Service
defended its decision on the grounds that it is not an art gallery
, and ended the program.
Hyde Park, New York
Hyde Park is a town located in the northwest part of Dutchess County, New York, United States, just north of the city of Poughkeepsie. The town is most famous for being the hometown of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt....
, New York, serves the 12538 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...
. It is a stone
Stonemasonry
The craft of stonemasonry has existed since the dawn of civilization - creating buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone from the earth. These materials have been used to construct many of the long-lasting, ancient monuments, artifacts, cathedrals, and cities in a wide variety of cultures...
building in the Dutch Colonial Revival 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...
, located on East Market Street (Dutchess County
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
Route 41) just east of US 9.
It is a stone building modeled on an early house in the region. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, a native of Hyde Park, took a personal interest in the construction of the new building 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...
. A series of murals inside depict major events in local history. In 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...
.
Building
The post office is located in the center of Hyde Park, on a corner lot at the intersection. Hyde Park Reformed Dutch ChurchHyde Park Reformed Dutch Church
Hyde Park Dutch Reformed Church is located on US 9 in the center of Hyde Park, New York, United States, just north of the post office and the junction with Market Street at the center of town. It is a complex of several buildings on a lot....
is to the north; St. James Chapel
St. James Chapel (Hyde Park, New York)
St. James' Chapel is located on West Market Street , a short distance east of US 9, in Hyde Park, New York, United States. It is part of the Episcopal parish of St. James, whose main church is located north of it along Route 9....
is across East Market to the southeast. A decorative stone wellhead sits to the west, near the actual corner.
Its 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"....
, four bays
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:...
wide, faces south. The two-story main block is faced in fieldstone
Fieldstone
Fieldstone is a building construction material. Strictly speaking, it is stone collected from the surface of fields where it occurs naturally...
in a random ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
pattern. Windows have louver
Louver
A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...
ed shutters
Window shutter
A window shutter is a solid and stable window covering usually consisting of a frame of vertical stiles and horizontal rails...
It is topped with a 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...
with boxed wooden 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...
and plain modillions. The main entrance, in the western bay, has a small 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...
ed wooden porch with square piers.
Two -story wings, on the east and west, have 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 roofs with clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
siding
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 the gable ends. The cornices are shallower. The west wing has an entrance with paneled reveal and 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...
light. A larger, later wing extends from the north, of brick in common bond with a gambrel roof and cornice echoing the main roof. It ends in a loading platform.
Inside, the lobby has a flagstone
Flagstone
Flagstone, is a generic flat stone, usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other constructions. The name derives from Middle English flagge meaning turf, perhaps from Old Norse flaga meaning slab.Flagstone is a...
floor and wainscoting. Around the upper wall on three sides are murals of Hyde Park's history. Much of the woodworking and finishes are original. A small display case holds the trowel
Trowel
A trowel is one of several similar hand tools used for digging, smoothing, or otherwise moving around small amounts of viscous or particulate material.-Hand tools:...
used by Roosevelt at the groundbreaking ceremony.
History
The post office as an institution is of local historic importance. Hyde Park takes its name from its first post office, located in the Hyde Park Inn. The settlement's name was originally Stoutenburgh, but the new name took on wide use and eventually became official in 1812. Nine years later the town was separately organized under that name.A century and a half later, Franklin D. Roosevelt took it upon himself as president to promote the use of the Dutch Colonial Revival style, and fieldstone
Fieldstone
Fieldstone is a building construction material. Strictly speaking, it is stone collected from the surface of fields where it occurs naturally...
, for new instutional buildings in his native Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
. He had personally made sure that new post offices in Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
and later Rhinebeck, to the south and north, were built that way. Postmaster General
United States Postmaster General
The United States Postmaster General is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence...
James Farley
James Farley
James Aloysius Farley was the first Irish Catholic politician in American history to achieve success on a national level, serving as Chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and as Postmaster General simultaneously under the first two...
asked him if he wanted to address Hyde Park's needs next, but the president told him to get Rhinebeck's post office built first since it had the greater need.
In his speech at the 1939 groundbreaking for the Rhinebeck post office
U.S. Post Office (Rhinebeck, New York)
The U.S. Post Office in Rhinebeck, New York serves the 12572 ZIP Code. It is located on Mill Street just south of the intersection with NY 308 at the center of the village.It is a stone Colonial Revival structure built in 1940, during the New Deal...
, he jokingly warned Farley and Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr.
Henry Morgenthau, Jr.
Henry Morgenthau, Jr. was the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He played a major role in designing and financing the New Deal...
that they would not keep their jobs unless they made sure that there would be federal money available to build a new post office in Hyde Park. Rudolph Stanley-Mills, a former Treasury architect by then in private practice, was chosen to design a building for Roosevelt's ultimate approval, due to his successful work on Rhinebeck, Wappingers Falls
Wappingers Falls Village Hall
Wappingers Falls Village Hall is located at the corner of South Avenue and East Main Street in the Dutchess County, New York, USA municipality of that name. It was originally built in 1940 as the village's new post office, a Works Progress Administration project. President Franklin D...
and other stone post offices in the region. The president insisted on stone even though Bard's house had been frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
.
The site was chosen and purchased in April 1940 for a cost of $15,000 ($ in contemporary dollars). Three houses were removed and demolished to clear a site for the new building. Stones, larger and more regular in size and shape than those used on the other four stone post offices in the county, was procured from old stone walls on a farm owned by onew of Bard's descendants. In November the president laid the cornerstone
Cornerstone
The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...
for the almost complete building;
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
house built (but by then demolished) for early settler John Bard as the model for the structure. Stone for the building was taken from stone wall
Stone wall
Stone walls are a kind of masonry construction which have been made for thousands of years. First they were constructed by farmers and primitive people by piling loose field stones in what is called a dry stone wall, then later with the use of mortar and plaster especially in the construction of...
s on land once owned by Bard's son Samuel. The next year, he helped lay the cornerstone
Cornerstone
The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...
for the new building, which opened the following year.
The brick rear wing was added in 1963, and some modern light fixtures have been installed. Other than that the building is as it was when opened.
Public art
Local artist Olin Dows painted muralMural
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...
s in the lobby depicting Hyde Park's history, from Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...
's Halve Maen
Halve Maen
The Halve Maen was a Dutch East India Company vlieboot which sailed into what is now New York harbor in September 1609. It was commissioned by the Dutch Republic to covertly find an eastern passage to China...
docking in the nearby Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
during his 1609 voyage, to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
visiting Roosevelt at his house
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site
The Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site preserves the Springwood estate in Hyde Park, New York, United States of America. Springwood was the birthplace, lifelong home, and burial place of the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt...
the year before. He had previously painted similar scenes in the Rhinebeck post office.
Public art in the building caused a local controversy in 2001. The postmaster had instituted a local "Artist of the Month" program which, in October of that year, featured Fatgirl, a painting of the clothed torso and midsection of an obese woman by Audrey Martin. After the post office received several verbal and one written complaint, it was removed from the building. Protests of censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
from the local arts community drew nationwide sympathy and support, but the Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
defended its decision on the grounds that it is not an art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
, and ended the program.