Nomination for US Post Office--Waltham Main

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Form No. 10-306 (Rev. 10-74) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FOR NPS USE ONLY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM FOR FEDERAL PROPERTIES _RECEIVED APR. 17 1986 DATE ENTERED -MAY 3 0 1986 SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS 1 NAME HISTORIC United States Post Office AND/OR COMMON Waltham Main Post Office 2 LOCATION STREET & NUMBER 774 Main Street 3 CITY.

TOWN Waltham STATE Massachusetts 02154 CLASSIFICATION N/A VICINITY OF CODE 1340 N/ANOT FOR PUBLICATION CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT Eighth Congressional District COUNTY CODE Middlesex 017 CATEGORY DISTRICT XBUILDING(S) _STRUCTURE _SITE _OBJECT OWNERSHIP XPUBLIC _PRIVATE _BOTH PUBLIC ACQUISITION N/ AIN PROCESS BEING CONSIDERED STATUS XOCCUPIED _UNOCCUPIED _WORK IN PROGRESS ACCESSIBLE - YES: RESTRICTED XYES: UNRESTRICTED _NO PRESENT USE AGRICULTURE. -MUSEUM _COMMERCIAL -PARK _EDUCATIONAL -PRIVATE RESIDENCE _ENTERTAINMENT _RELIGIOUS XGOVERNMENT -SCIENTIFIC _INDUSTRIAL -TRANSPORTATION _MILITARY _OTHER 4 AGENCY REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS: (If applicable) New England Field Real Estate and Buildings Office STREET & NUMBER 1050 Waltham Street CITY. TOWN Lexington N/A VICINITY OF LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION STATE Massachusetts 02173 COURTHOUSE REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC.

Middlesex County Registry, Cambridge Courthouse STREET & NUMBER 208 Cambridge Street CITY. TOWN East Cambridge REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS STATE Massachusetts 02141 TITLE None DATE _FEDERAL STATE _COUNTY LOCAL DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS CITY.TOWN STATE 7 DESCRIPTION CONDITION -EXCELLENT XGOOD -FAIR : 0S YAN _DETERIORATED _RUINS _UNEXPOSED CHECK ONE -UNALTERED XALTERED CHECK ONE XORIGINAL SITE _MOVED DATE. DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Description of the property

_PHYSICAL APPREARANCE_ The Waltham Post Office is located on one of the main throughways of the city, in an area of one-story, medium density retail stores. To the west of it is a stone vernacular Episcopal Church, a Colonial Revival wood Congregational Church, a four-story apartment building, and the Classical Revival Waltham Public Library. Further west is the center common and city hall. Main Street was previously the 0ld Boston Post Road which extended from Boston to New York. Overall, the building and its corner property are in good condition. It is situated towards the northeastern end of the lot, with a vehicle maneuvering area to its west and south. The site is landscaped with lawn, overgrown bushes, and shrubs. Iwo large trees frame the building on Main Street.

The building has a projecting granite base with red brick above laid in English bond, a projecting limestone architrave and cornice framing a brick entablature, and open limestone balustrabe panels above each north window in the parapet wall. In plan, the building has an original vestibule and public lobby flanked by the Postmaster's office to the left and workroom space to the right. Beyond is the workroom, mail vestibule, and platform. Seven granite steps with wrought-iron railings create the main approach. The front (north) elevation is divided into seven-bays with a five-bay entrance section and two recessed end bays. Wood-framed windows are contained within vertical elements which run from the base to the entablature and contain a coffered wood panel.

The end bay windows add an additional panel at the second floor level to express the change of interior height between the lobby and the offices to its sides. The central entrance contains replacement aluminum and glass doors framed by a limestone (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Waltham Post Office Item number 7 UMD I0UTUe E*p 10-31-84 For NPS use only recelved date entered Page 2 architrave and projecting pediment; this area is surmounted by an engaged limestone tablet containing the building's name at parapet height. Cast-iron and glass lanterns flank each side of the entry. The east and west elevations are similar in detail to the front facade.

They continue the limestone entablature ornament from the front to express the building's public spaces, then flatten to two belt courses to represent the workroom space within. The rear (south) elevation contains the covered mail platform; the limestone belt courses from the sides end abruptly once past the rear corners. One enters the building through a painted wood and glass panel vestibule with brass railings on the inner doors to the east and west. The public lobby, two stories in height, includes a Westfield green marble wainscot with Vermont Pittsford Italian trim, white and black diagonal checkerboard terrazzo flooring, plaster walls, ceiling, and molding, and wood service areas with wired glass and pivoting wood sash windows above. On the west wall is a recessed entry with marble trim to the Postmaster's office.

At each corner of the lobby are intersecting pilasters with marble bases; a pilaster marks the separation of each bay along the north and south walls. The walls at second floor level have simple, coffered rectangular patterns. The area is lighted by long, suspended flourescent fixtures.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD _PREHISTORIC -1400-1499 - 1500-1599 - 1600-1699 -1700-1799 _1800-1899 X 1900- AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW -ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC _COMMUNITY PLANNING _LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC _CONSERVATION -LAW AGRICULTURE -ECONOMICS _LITERATURE XARCHITECTURE _EDUCATION _MILITARY ART _ENGINEERING _MUSIC -COMMERCE _EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT -PHILOSOPHY _COMMUNICATIONS -INDUSTRY -POLITICS/GOVERNMENT -INVENTION SPECIFIC DATES Cornerstone: Aug. 7, 1935 Dedication: March 14, 193gILDER/ARCHITECT STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Statement of significance

-RELIGION -SCIENCE _SCULPTURE _SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN -THEATER -TRANSPORTATION _OTHER (SPECIEVI Wadsworth, Hubbard & Smith, Boston Architects; Leighton & Mitchell Co. Boston - Buliders The Waltham Main Post Office was built in 1935. Essentially I-shaped in form, this compact, red brick and white stone trimmed structure is the stone most architecturally significant building is an area of convenience stores, gas stations and fact fast food restaurants. Architecturally, this building is significant as a representative of Public Works Administration construction and design policies during the Depression. Its form, materials, elements and plan underline P.W.A. advocacy of economy, standardization and functionalism in Post Office architecture.

Stylistically it blends a simplified classicism with a modern, streamlined approach to architecture, exemplifying what Lois Craig called "starved classicisn". The buildings simple form, locally manufactured bricks, minimal ornament and logical 6-area plan facilitated an 8 month construction schedule. The Waltham Main Post Office cornerstone was laid on August 7, 1935. The stone reads "Henry Morgenthau Jr., Secretary of the Treasury; James A. Farley, Postmaster General; Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect; Neal A. Medmick, Supervising Engineer; Wadsworth, Hubbard and Smith, Architects, 1935." This building is a product of U.S. Supervising Architect Louis A. Simon's office. Louis Adolf Simon was responsible for numerous post offices, custor houses and court houses. He was born in Boston c. 1870. Educated in M.I.T., he began a private practice in Washington D.C. in 1894.

He entered the office of the U.S. Treasury Supervising Architect in 1896. He served as the Chief Architect in this office from 1905-1933. From 1933 until his death in 1933 he was the U.S. Supervisory Architect. responsible for the Federal Building at the New York World's Fair in 1939-40. The local architects of the Waltham Main Post Office was the Boston based (11 Beacon Street, 1930's) firm of Wadsworth, Hubbard and Smith. Information on the firm's work is sketchy but it is documented that it was the successor firm to a long line of distinguished Boston Architectural practices included Nathaniel J. Bradles, Winslow and Wetherill and Winslow Wetherill and Bigelow. By the late 1920's the firm was known as Wadsworth and Smith (Phillip Wadsworth and Giles Smith). Their work is represented by several building on the Boston College campus, Newton, MA. From 1931-1938

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES "Waltham News Tribune - January 4, 1935; February 5, 1935; July 8, 1935 "Waltham News Tribune" Vol. 293, No. 63, March 14, 1936 History of Post Office Construction 1900-1940, July, 1982 Craig, Lois, ed. The Federal Presence: Architecture, Politics and Symbols in the United States Government Building, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1979. 10 GEOGRAPHICAL DATA ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY 0.827 UTM REFERENCES AL1,9/ 3/115/41215J ZONE EASTING CLL VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION 14,619,317,30) NORTHING *ZONE NORTHING NORTHING LULLeJLiiLu The Post Office property is located on the Southeast corner of Main and Grant Streets.

West to East - 214' along Main Street North to South - 164.04' along Grant Street East to West - 208.84' along rear lot line South to North - 166.12' along side lot line LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES STATE CODE COUNTY CODE STATE CODE COUNTY CODE FORM PREPARED BY NAME / TITLE Steven M. Smith, Project Manager ORGANIZATION SULLIVAN DESIGN GROUP, INC. STREET & NUMBER 44 Adams Street CITY OR TOWN Braintree DATE September 24, 1985 TELEPHONE (617) 848-1545 STATE Massachusetts 02184 12 CERTIFICATION OF NOMINATION STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER RECOMMENDATION YES.

X Valeue aemaçe STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER SIGNATURE In compliance with Executive Order 11593, I hereby nominate this property to the National Register, certifying that the State Historic Preservation Officer has been allowed 90 days in which to present the nomination to the State Review Board and to evaluate its significance. The evaluated level of sighitica klut State LLocal. FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVE SIGNATURE Lorusa TITLE Realty Specialist, Senior DATE April 4, 1986 FOR NPS USE ONLY I HEREBY CERTIFY THATTHIS PROPERTY IS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER valuck W Nndus DIREETOR. OFFICE OF ARCHEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION avae DATE 5/3086 DATE 5/29/86 KEERER OF TA NATIONAL REGISTER GPO 899-214

10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Waltham Main Post Office Item numta 8 or NPS use only recelved date entered Page 2 it was called Wadsworth, Hubbard, and Smith. The Waltham Main Post Office was dedicated on March 14, 1936. The original appropriation was $70,000 and was later raised to $120,000. Earlier drawings show a building essentially the same but with much more costly materials and details and a more complicated roof configuration. The construction of the building during the height of the Depression provided construction work and permanent jobs to Waltham's citizens. The city was spending a substantial amount of money on public welfare. The city budget was increased because of a decrease in valuation with no new building to offset the loss.

Despite assistance provided by the Emergency Relief Administration, the city still had to expend non-relief to 400 families. DANIEL'S COURT EXCHANGE STREET 3 Story brick Factory Building Parking Stone Vernacular Episcopal Church 1 Story Brick Office Parking 4 Story brick Apartment Building Waltham Visiting Nurses Assoc.

Parking 2Story brick/ 1 Story Brick wood Offices 208.84 166.121 4 214 MAIN STREET Brick/ Concrete Block Brick variety Office Parking 164.04' GRANT STREET 2 Story Wood house UNITED STATES POST OFFICE - WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS 2 story Wood-frame Residence 1 story Wood/Brick offices Parking gas station 1 - Vestibule 2 - Public Lobby 3 - Postmaster's Office 4 - Workroom 5 - Mail Vestibules 6 - Mail Platform Parking Arby's McDonalds 1 Story Brick /Concrete - commeccial/retail Parkina 25 30 BM/205 (Radio i (WCO Golt Course ONCORD METROÄOLFTAN STATE HOSPI Hardys Pond 197 Hcounty Bóspital 4697 Nophed 3520 G 510 000 Chest Clemat?x WALTHAMA -Hatokes Lyman Pond WEVERY MARLBOROUGH 16 Mi Jibrary & /20 ra Common Dam - 42° 22' 30 Hall 316 71°15 INATICK) 6769 IV Mapped, edited, and published by the Geological Survey Control by USGS, USC&GS.

and Massachusetts Geodetic Survey Planimetry by photogrammetric methods from aerial photographs taken 1939. Topography by planetable surveys 1943 Revised from aerial photographs taken 1969. Field checked 1971 1927 North American datum 10.000-foot grid based on Massachusetts coordinate system. 1000 meter Universal Transrerse Mercator grid, Red tint indicates areas in which only landmark buildings are shown Grovew /02= WATERTOWN ITOWNHALLI / 3 MI.X 12 MI GN 15° 267 MILS :29 2EMILS UIM GRID AND 19: DECLINATION A! NURT- SHEF! 86001248 WASO Form - 177 ("R"June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET . ve Ret 1êt United States Post Office--Waltham Main Middlesex County MASSACHUSETTS APR 1 7 1986 2/3/8 resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Working No. Fed. Reg.

Date: Date Due:~ Action: ~ACCEPT _RETURN REJECT Federal Agency: USPS 6/1/86 5-30-86 Substantive Review: sample Lrequest Lappeal L NR decision Reviewer's comments: focal adaptation of "Starved classicism" Recom./Criteia Accept C at loeal level. Reviewer Yaue Nistory Discipline- Date 29/06 see continuation sheet Nomination returned for: - technical corrections cited below _substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? L yes no 7.

Description Condition - excellent - good J fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one -unaltered altered Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance ] summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates - boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use Check one J original site - moved date 8. Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) Builder/Architect summary paragraph completeness | / clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12.

State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national state _local State Historic Preservation Officer signature title 13. Other date LMaps Photographs L Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Signed Date Phone:. Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet WALTHAM MAIN POST OFFICE Waltham, MA David R. Hooker Earl R. Flansburgh and Associates May 1983 Front elevation Waltham Post Office Waltham Post Office WALTHAM MAIN POST OFFICE Waltham, MA David R. Hooker Earl R. Flansburgh and Associates May 1983 Front elevation. Left view Waltham Post Office WALTHAM MAIN POST OFFICE Waltham, MA David R. Hooker Ear1 R. Flansburgh and Associates May 1983 Front elevation. Right view WATES POSTA UNITED U.S.MAIL FIELD REAL ESTATE AND BUILDINGS OFFICE P.O.

Box 324 Lexington, MA 02173-0324 August 20, 1985 AUG 2 3 1985 -PPA The Honorable Arthur J. Clark Mayor, City of Waltham Waltham City Hall 610 Main Street Waltham, MA 02154 Dear Mayor Clark: The U.S. Postal Service in conjunction with the Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Officer in Boston has evaluated the Main Post Office in Waltham and has determined it is significant from an historical viewpoint. In view of the above evaluation, the U.S. Postal Service intends to nominate this building to the National Register of Historic Places. We would, prior to our taking formal action, appreciate receiving your concurrence. If you concur with our proposed action, kindly return a signed copy of this letter in the enclosed envelope.

Sincerely, Faualte Gregory Gillelan Generak Manager Concur Enclosures JPC/1jr eoeret rengder repcal muaspe euctaseg eanerobet lon cogGnt MTC! 0.5 ebbrcarare TOCSTATTO CO Do TO AJGN OT DUC SOONG GASTMCTON DUG Dº2- F05 emg ure getemmueg te re prabngrosue pran OTETCG me n'a DOST VANOL CISLE: MgTcUcur Wa C5T28 010 1250 20.6* Ngt ciCt WEAOEI CTEN tue povotepre KCUDE 2* Tonr con NEW EHOL AHO FIELD REAL ESTATES 31DCSMOFFIGE LEXING M: 82175 SEP 5 9 11 PM-85 FRTOE RECEIVED US POSTAL SERVICE ynF S- l0sP ndner sol rase - 6O B0X 250 BONDMMGR OLEICE 437 FATES POSTA U.S.MAIL SERVICE **** UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW Washington, DC 20260 April 8, 1986 Ms. Carol D.

Shull Chief of Registration National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Department of Interior Washington, D.C. 20240-1002 Dear Ms. Shull: The Postal Service hereby submits a nomination for the post office located at 774 Main Street, Middlesex County, Waltham, Massachusetts. If you have any questions concerning this nomination, please call me at 202/268-3107. Sincerely, fahus. S S. Sorenson Realty Specialist, Senior Office of Real Estate Enclosure Recd. APR | 7 1986