United States Post Office (Westerly, Rhode Island)

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U.S. Post Office
Downtown Post Office Westerly Rhode Island 02891.jpg
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Location5 High St., [1]
Westerly, Rhode Island
Coordinates 41°22′40″N71°49′49″W / 41.3778°N 71.8302°W / 41.3778; -71.8302 Coordinates: 41°22′40″N71°49′49″W / 41.3778°N 71.8302°W / 41.3778; -71.8302
Built1913
ArchitectJames Knox Taylor
Architectural style Classical Revival
Part of Westerly Downtown Historic District (#84002055)
NRHP reference # 71000004 [2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPAugust 12, 1971
Designated CPJuly 19, 1984

The Downtown Westerly U.S. Post Office is a historic post office building at High and Broad Streets in Westerly, Washington County, Rhode Island.

Westerly, Rhode Island Town in Rhode Island, United States

Westerly is a town on the southwestern shoreline of Washington County, Rhode Island, first settled by English colonists in 1661 and incorporated as a municipality in 1669. It is a beachfront community on the south shore of the state with a population of 22,787 as of the 2010 census.

Rhode Island State of the United States of America

Rhode Island, officially the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest state in area, the seventh least populous, and the second most densely populated, but it has the longest official name of any state. Rhode Island is bordered by Connecticut to the west, Massachusetts to the north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound. It also shares a small maritime border with New York. Providence is the state capital and most populous city in Rhode Island.

Contents

Description

The building was designed in the Classical Revival style, in 1913 by architect James Knox Taylor. The single-story building features a broad curving facade with eight fluted Doric columns of Vermont marble, flanked by wide piers. The interior lobby space retains many original features, including terrazzo and marble flooring, and a coffered ceiling with decorative moulding. [3]

James Knox Taylor American architect

James Knox Taylor was Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1897 to 1912. His name is listed ex officio as supervising architect of hundreds of federal buildings built throughout the United States during the period.

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. [2]

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

The building "demonstrates the height of grand government-sponsored design" and "is often considered the finest post office in the state," according to a 2019 Providence Journal article. [4]

<i>The Providence Journal</i> newspaper published in Providence

The Providence Journal, nicknamed the ProJo, is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island, and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper was first published in 1829 and is the oldest continuously-published daily newspaper in the United States. The newspaper has won four Pulitzer Prizes.

See also

National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Rhode Island Wikimedia list article

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Rhode Island.

Related Research Articles

Wilcox Park

Wilcox Park is a park and arboretum located at 71 ½ High Street, Westerly, Rhode Island. It is open to the public at all times, without fee, and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973 as Wilcox Park Historic District. The historic district includes 84 houses/buildings of the neighborhood surrounding the park covering a 50-acre (20 ha) area, including the main post office and public library of the town of Westerly.

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National Register of Historic Places listings in Providence County, Rhode Island Wikimedia list article

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National Register of Historic Places listings in Providence, Rhode Island Wikimedia list article

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Woods–Gerry House

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Babcock–Smith House

The Babcock–Smith House is a historic house at 124 Granite Street in Westerly, Rhode Island.

George Kent Performance Hall church building in Rhode Island, United States of America

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Westerly Downtown Historic District

The Westerly Downtown Historic District is a historic district encompassing most of the commercial and civic district of Westerly, Rhode Island, United States. It extends from Broad and Union Streets eastward along High Street, and north along Canal Street to Railroad Avenue, where it extends to include the historic railroad station. The district contains a compact and cohesive collection of commercial and civic buildings built primarily during the last three decades of the 19th century and the first three decades of the 20th century, including the Old Town Hall (1872–74), the current Town Hall (1912), the Spanish Colonial railroad station (1912), and the Greek Revival post office (1914).

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The Westerly Armory is an historic National Guard armory building located on Railroad Avenue, west of downtown Westerly, Rhode Island.

Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library library

The Pawtucket Public Library, formerly known as the Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library, is located at 13 Summer Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Its main building, designed by Ralph Adams Cram and built in 1899-1902, and was a gift to the city from Pawtucket's first mayor, Frederic Clark Sayles, in memory of his recently deceased wife.

Federal Building (Providence, Rhode Island) federal building in Providence, Rhode Island

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This is a list of Registered Historic Places in Westerly, Rhode Island.

This is a list of Registered Historic Places in Cranston, Rhode Island.

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This is a list of Registered Historic Places in Glocester, Rhode Island.

This is a list of Registered Historic Places in North Providence, Rhode Island.

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Ram Point

Ram Point is a historic summer estate property at 77 Watch Hill Road in Westerly, Rhode Island. It is located at the head of an eponymous geographic features, which projects into the Pawcatuck River between downtown Westerly and the Watch Hill area. The property includes a suite of buildings, the principal one being a large two story Colonial Revival wood frame building. The house was built c. 1903 for Dr. John Whitridge Williams to a design most likely by Douglas Thomas, Jr. of Baltimore, Maryland. The property is believed to be one of only two Rhode Island works by Thomas; the other, also designed for a member of the Williams family, is located across Babcock Cove from Ram Point.

References

  1. Address based on USPS website. Accessed April 8, 2016.
  2. 1 2 National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  3. "NRHP nomination for United States Post Office" (PDF). Rhode Island Preservation. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  4. Morgan, Willam (14 February 2019). "5 gems of Rhode Island architecture". The Providence Journal. Retrieved 17 February 2019.