United States Post Office (Palm Beach, Florida)

U.S. Post Office
Main Post Office in the Town of Palm Beach
LocationPalm Beach, Florida
Coordinates26°43′5″N 80°2′18″W / 26.71806°N 80.03833°W / 26.71806; -80.03833
Built byWatt & Sinclair of Florida, Inc.
ArchitectOffice of the Supervising Architect under Louis A. Simon
Architectural styleMission/Spanish Revival
NRHP reference No.83001436[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 21, 1983

The U.S. Post Office, also known as the Main Post Office, at 95 North County Road in Palm Beach, Florida is a historic building.[2] It was used as a post office from 1937 to 2011. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

History

The U.S. Post Office in Palm Beach, Florida was built through a federal government construction program.[3] Originally, local architect Addison Mizner was selected to design the building; however, the $200,000 cost of constructing his design was prohibitive.[3] Thus, it was designed by Louis A. Simon who was head of the Office of the Supervising Architect for the U.S. Treasury.[2][3] The redesign cost $164,400 to build.[3] It was built by Watt and Sinclair of Florida, Inc. between 1936 and 1937.[3] Despite the budget cut, this post office included ornamental features that were uncommon for similar government structures in the 1930s Great Depression era.[3]

On July 21, 1983, the U.S. Post Office in Palm Beach was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[3] The United States Postal Service sold the post office to Jeff Green in October 2010 for $3.725 million and moved to a new location in 2011.[4][5] The building now houses Green's business, Florida Sunshine Investments, Inc.[5]

Architecture

The U.S Post Office in Palm Beach is a two-story structure in Mediterranean Revival or Spanish Colonial Revival style.[2][3] The building has a masonry and stucco exterior with a two-tier roof of barrel-tile and marble entry stairs.[2][3] Its lobby features exposed cypress beams across the ceiling.[2] The post box lobby has three murals of Seminole scenes that were painted by Charles Rosen in 1938.[2][6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System – (#83001436)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Palm Beach County". Florida's History Through Its Places. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "U.S. Post Office". NPGallery. National Park Service. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
  4. ^ "Post Office (former) – Palm Beach FL". Living New Deal. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  5. ^ a b "Palm Beach Story". Save the Post Office. 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  6. ^ Sturrock, Staci. "Palm Beach County's secret post office murals are a delight". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2025-09-01.