US Post Office--Arlington Main

_PHYSICAL APPEARANCE_ The building sits on the front part of the site with the main vehicle maneuvering area to its rear with access to it on the north edge, and a staff parking area to the south. The site is landscaped with lawn, shrubs and several trees. The Arlington Post Office is designed in a simplified version of the Georgian Colonial Revival style. It's distinctive features include a slate hipped roof, wood cupola, brick quoins, and a limestone entrance architrave. The building is symmetrical in both plan and elevation with a later addition that almost doubles the size of the original structure. In plan, the building is fronted with a small vestibule and a public lobby flanked by the Postmaster's office and service areas to the right and workroom space to the left.

Behind the service screen is the workroom, mail vestibule, and platform. Seven granite steps with wrought-iron railings create the main approach. The building rises above its granite base with brick laid in Flemish bond and limestone detailing. The front (east) elevation divides the seven-bay structure into a three-bay central, slightly projecting portion with two-bay wings. The center portion contains three arched openings; the center arch houses the replacement aluminum and glass entry doors framed by a limestone architrave with keystone, fan light, and rusticated pilasters supporting an entablature; cast bronze lamps are to either side of the entry.

Double-hung, 15/15 light wood sash windows with fan lights flank the entry in the recessed outer arches with limestone keystone, springer stones, and panel below. The windows in the flanking bays are double-hung with wood sashes, 12/12 lights, limestone sills and flared lintels with keystones. The original part of the building is marked by its brick quoins and limestone cornices.

Addition: 1965 Lord & Den Hartog & Assoc.Architects Fenton G. Keys, Assoc. Engineer Built in 1935, the Arlington Main Post Office building is part of Arlington Center's collection of architecturally significant structures dating from the early 19th century - mid 20th century (including Robbins Library (1914) and the Federal Revival City Hall). Architecturally this building is significant as a reflection of 1930's Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) policies advocating standardized construction and more efficient planning. For example, sites for new post office buildings during the 1930's were chosen with an eye toward more efficient service rather than prominent display on a major thoroughfare - the Arlington Main Post Office is located on a residential side street.

The Colonial style was chosen for its design perhaps in reference to Arlington historical associations with British and American skirmishes related to the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The Colonial Revival style was the second most popular architectural mode for Federal government building design during the 1930's. Along with the Classical style, the Colonial Revival style was "symbolic of both American past and her future progress and increasingly the architectural symbol of the Federal Government." This modern scaled red brick and white stone trimmed building is characterized by Georgian Revival surface treatments (e.g. fanlights, keystone archs and wedge shaped lintel). It is dominated by a distinctive cupola with arched openings.

Its overall appearance is more domestic than institutional rendering it compatible with its residential neighbors. The appropriation for the Arlington Main Post Office building was $175,000.00. The local Chamber of Congress and more specifically Arthur Birch is credited with securing the funds for this structure. Excavation began on July 4, 1935. On September 19, 1935 the cornerstone was laid. It reads Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury, James A. Farley, Postmaster General, Louis A.