(Formerly U.S. Post Office and Courthouse)
Post Office Square | 1932-1934 (Cornerstone laid 1/15/32) | Cram & Ferguson
This massive Moderne skyscraper
features an all-granite facade except for the top five limestone Devonshire St.
floors, which are set back; and 13-bay principal facades on Devonshire Street
and Post Office Square. This may
have been the government's way of giving work to New England granite quarries
during the Depression. The best
view of the limestone setback is from Tremont Street.
Note the 3-bay, 4-story center entrance section flanked by two 17-story pavilions with rising stone piers and metal spandrels. The lobby area, though run down, is largely intact. Other details include Art Deco copper basement window grates, stylized eagles over the doors, and stylized classical and natural forms such as urns, palmettes, acanthus leaves, and wheat sheaves. Other symbols used on the exterior include bundles of staves (or fascis) at the pinnacles, symbolizing the proverb "united we stand, divided we fall"; and the caduceus, the wand of Mercury, who was primarily the messenger, or postman, of Olympia. The building was determined eligible for listing in the National Register in 1987.
For the
first time since 1874, Post Office Square no longer has a post office. In January 2004, the Post Office moved
to 31 Milk Street. The courthouses
formerly in the building were relocated to the waterfront. Starting in 2005,
the building will be renovated as a Federal office building.
