NRHP: Albion United States Post Office

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Albion United States Post Office

Albion United States Post Office

NRHP Reference #: 92000475

NRHP Listing Date: 19920511

Location

310 W Church, Albion, Boone County, Nebraska

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Summary

The Albion United States Post Office, built in 1937-38, is a one-story, red brick building with simple Colonial Revival details built from standardized plans in the 1930s. While the building retains a high degree of integrity, its historical significance derives from the mural painted on an interior wall. Through New Deal programs such as the Public Works of Art Project and the WPA Federal Art Project, thousands of artists were employed. In 1934 the Section of Painting and Sculpture (renamed the Section of Fine Arts in 1938) was organized under the auspices of the Treasury Department to provide murals and sculptures for the many federal buildings constructed during the New Deal era. Between 1938 and 1942 the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts (generally known as "the Section") commissioned twelve murals for twelve newly constructed post offices in Nebraska. Albion, along with the other eleven post office murals in Nebraska, represent the Section's goal of making art accessible to the general population by reserving one percent of new building construction budgets for art.

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About the National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the country’s official list of historically significant properties. To be eligible for the NRHP a property must generally retain their historic appearance, be at least 50 years old, and have the potential to be documented as historically or architecturally significant at either the local, state, or national level. The National Register of Historic Places is a National Park Service program administered by the Nebraska State Historical Society for the state of Nebraska. Visit the Nebraska State Historical Society's website to learn more about the program.