Hood River #31: United States Post Office

408 Cascade Avenue

Hood River Post Office on June 10, 2009

The Hood River Post Office was located in the ground floor of the Masonic Hall at 210 Second Street from 1901 until this building opened in September 1935.

Hood River Post Office Cornerstone on June 10, 2009

The cornerstone was placed in 1934 and carries the names of Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Postmaster General James A. Farley, Supervising Architect Louis A. Simon and Supervising Engineer George O. Von Nerta.

Hood River Post Office on June 10, 2009

The Modernistic-style building was built by Hoffman Construction Company at a cost of $90,000.

Continue to 32: Elks Lodge…

The Dalles #65: United States Post Office

100 West Second Street

Old Post Office on June 10, 2009

This Roman Classical-style post office of Tenino sandstone was designed under the direction of Oscar Wenderoth, Supervising Architect of the Treasury, and built in 1915 to replace the previous building used as a post office that was destroyed by fire in 1914. This post office opened in 1916. It was the first federal building constructed in the city of The Dalles and one of nine constructed in the state of Oregon between 1910 and 1920. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 4, 1985. It is no longer used as a post office as a new post office has been built directly on the other side of Second Street. This building is now used as commercial office space and currently houses AmeriTitle.

Historical Photos:
The Dalles Post Office Construction, January 1, 1916 (CGDC)
The Dalles Post Office, June 4, 1976 (UO)

Continue to 66: Odd Fellows Hall…

Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse

…Continued from Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Pioneer Courthouse on August 19, 2007

One block to the east of what is now Pioneer Courthouse Square, in 1875 the Pioneer Courthouse was completed to house the U.S. Federal Court and also served as a post office.

Pioneer Courthouse on January 23, 2010

Now the oldest standing public building in Portland, it is still occupied by the Ninth Circuit United States Court of Appeals.

Pioneer Courthouse on January 23, 2010

It was dedicated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

Pioneer Courthouse on September 7, 2008

It is open for public tours Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Pioneer Courthouse on September 7, 2008

Historical Photo:
Pioneer Courthouse, 1877 (Oregon Historical Society)

Pioneer Courthouse on September 7, 2008

Pioneer Courthouse on September 7, 2008

Pioneer Courthouse on September 7, 2008

Pioneer Courthouse on September 7, 2008

Continue to Animals in Pools…

Salem Government #5: Executive Building

155 Cottage Street NE

Executive Building on September 4, 2006

This building to the west of the Capitol Building was built as Salem's Post Office at a cost of $310,000, and was dedicated on October 16, 1937. It was the only marble post office west of the Mississippi River beside Denver's. It served as Salem's post office until 1976, when a new building on 25th street took its place. Today it serves as the State of Oregon Executive Building.

Executive Building on January 27, 2007

Additional Links:
Salem Post Office at Salem Online History

Historical Photo:
Executive Building as Post Office, 1954 (Salem Public Library)

Mabel A. Lockwood Silk Tree on September 4, 2006

At the southwest corner of the executive building, near the intersection of State Street and Church Street, is this silk tree, dedicated to Mabel A. Lockwood, who served as National President of the American War Mothers from 1952 to 1953. The tree was dedicated by Chapter No. 1, the Salem chapter, of the American War Mothers.

Mabel A. Lockwood Plaque on September 4, 2006

Continue to 6: Oregon State Library…

Historic Salem #4C: Gatke Hall

Gatke Hall on September 4, 2006

Gatke Hall was built as the Salem Post Office in 1903. It was moved on rollers down State Street to its current location in 1938, a six month process. It housed the College of Law until 1967, when the Truman Wesley Collins Legal Center was completed. Gatke Hall is named after Dr. Robert Moulton Gatke, Willamette University's first professor of political science and historian.

Additional Links:
Salem Post Office at Salem Online History
Gatke Hall at Discover-Neighborhood-History

Historical Photos:
Gatke Hall as Salem Post Office (Oregon State Library)
Gatke Hall as Salem Post Office, 1902 (Salem Public Library)
Gatke Hall as Salem Post Office, 1905 (Salem Public Library)
Gatke Hall as Salem Post Office (Oregon State Library)
Gatke Hall as Salem Post Office, 1913 (Salem Public Library)
Gatke Hall as Salem Post Office, 1930 (Salem Public Library)
Gatke Hall as Salem Post Office, 1937 (Salem Public Library)
Gatke Hall being moved, 1938 (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 4D: Art Building…

Longview #10: United States Post Office

1603 Larch Street

Longview Post Office on September 5, 2005.

Longview's Main Post Office was built in 1933 as a Public Works Administration project to provide work to people without jobs. It's architecture is classically-influenced Art Deco. The Post Office was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 5, 1991.

Related Links:
Longview Post Office at the Cowlitz County Parcel Search

Continue to 11: Nutty Narrows Bridge…

Rainier #19: U.S. Post Office

207 A Street West

Rainier Post Office on September 5, 2005.

This is the current U.S. Post Office in Rainier. It was built in the 1990s. When it was built, A Street had to be extended slightly. The street originally ended at the intersection with West Second Street. Though Charles Fox started a Post Office in 1851, Rainier's first government Post Office opened in 1863 and was located in a store building at the corner of East 5th Street and A Street East. The Rainier Post Office has never been in a building owned by the U.S. Postal Service. Even the current building is only leased.

Continue to 20: United States Gypsum Wallboard Plant…

Rainier #18: Old Post Office Building

202 A Street East

Old Post Office Building on September 5, 2005.

On this corner once stood the Grand Hotel, a large 4-story wood frame building that was built in 1899 and destroyed by fire on July 27, 1924, just a month after the fire that destroyed the block on the other side of the street. Nothing was immediately rebuilt on the site, and it spent many years being used as a parking lot.

Historic view of A Street, looking west. The Grand Hotel is the large building on the left.
(Michael Clark collection, used with permission)

The current building was originally the U.S. Post Office in Rainier. It was the first post office in Rainier that was actually built to be a post office. Previously, the post office had been located in various buildings around town. Construction of the post office started on September 1, 1959. The post office moved into the 2,200-square-foot building in January 1960, and a dedication and open house was held on March 5, 1960. The Goble post office became a rural station operated from Rainier on March 1, 1960. This building served as Rainier’s post office until the current post office was built in the 1990s. It then became home to Tri-City Insurance, which is now Lower Columbia Insurance.

Continue to 19: U.S. Post Office…