United States Post Office–Greenfield Main


The US Post Office-Greenfield Main is a historic post office at 442 Main Street in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1915 and enlarged in 1939, it is a good example of a post office with Beaux Arts and Classical Revival features. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, and included in the Main Street Historic District in 1988.

Description and history

Greenfield's main post office occupies a prominent location in downtown Greenfield, on the north side of Main Street opposite the Franklin County Courthouse. It consists of a two-story main block, with virtually identical single-story wings extending to either side. Broad steps, flanked on either side by original light fixtures on iron stands, lead to the main entrance. It features restrained Colonial Revival decorations, including a two-story pilastered pediment surrounding a recessed arched entrance with ornate features. Windows are tall sash, set in slightly recessed arched blinds. The interior lobby spaces has terrazzo marble floors, granite wainscoting, and stained woodwork. A bronze sculpture stands in the lobby; it was placed in 1941, and is the work of Hélène Sardeau.
The central two-story portion of the building was built in 1915 to a design by Oscar Wenderoth, then the head of the Office of the Supervising Architect at the United States Treasury Department. The building was expanded in 1939, adding single story wings on each side. It is one of the city's most architecturally sophisticated buildings.