US Post Office--Winchester Main

DATE_ Sited on the west bank of the Aberjona River, the Winchester Post Office is located on the corner of Waterfield Road, a perimeter street to downtown Winchester, and Thompson Street. The front facade overlooks Ginn Field, a town park enhanced by the planted and well landscaped roadway, and the right side is directly adjacent to a meandering footpath that follows the river. The far bank of the river abuts Manchester Park, the large, well-treed Commons area of the town. The expanding growth of the commercial area has extended from the original downtown commercial district to the rear lot line of the Post Office, with quaint shops and semi-covered walkways that maintain the aesthetic appeal of the locale.

Almost square in plan, some 70 feet wide by 65 feet deep, the building consists of two stories on a full basement and contains 11,500 square feet of floor space. The second floor is set back from the side facades of the building and, constructed with a two-way gable roof, reduces the visual height of the building while enhancing the classical theme expressed in the basic design. The building's solid brick foundations, sitting on spread footings, support the reinforced concrete first floor slab. Brick masonry walls, with steel columns and beams, carry the second floor and the wood roof framing members. The full range red brick exterior walls are laid in Flemish bond and are complimented by beige limestone panels, columns and trim.

The bold limestone watertable caps the brick foundation and functions as a continuous stone lintel over the basement windows, a feature expressed, rather than concealed, in the design treatment.

BUILDER/ARCHITECTJames A. Wetmore, Act. Sup. Arch't. John P. Curley, Contractor Edmund J. Rapoli, Contr. for Bonding Company The Winchester Post Office, constructed in 1927, possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship, as well with significant association with the commercial development of the Thompson Street and Waterfield Road area of the community. In addition, this building exemplifies the high standard of design set by the Treasury Architects in placing the monumentality of the Federal Presence in a smal1 community, without overwhelming the existing townscape. It thus meets the National Register criteria A and C.

Originally a section of the Township of Charlestown, the Village of Waterfield separated from that community at the direction of the Puritan Church. The Church played an important role in politics at this time. Subsequently, the village became South Woburn, growing from the tiny farming community, typical in its geographical proximity to Boston, to a suburb with Woburn's industry to the north and the metropolitan area of Boston to the south. The village, with the introduction of the Lowell Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad, incorporated as the Town of Winchester in 1850. The first Post Office in town, then South Woburn, was established in 1841 with Dr. Moses C. Green appointed as Postmaster.

Typical of the smal1 but growing communities at the end of the nineteenth century, the post office moved from one small storefront to another, at the pleasure, or need for additional space, of the Postmaster appointed by the Administration in power at that time.