Guide to the Photographs of the Post Office Building (Pittsburgh, Pa.), c1880-1934
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Photographs of the Post Office Building (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Creator
- United States Post Office, Pittsburgh Division.
- Collection Number
- PSS #2
- Extent
- 1.00 cubic feet (2 boxes)
- Date
- c1880-1934
- Abstract
- On October 13, 1934, the United States Postal Service dedicated their new main postal station for the city of Pittsburgh, culminating three years of construction at the cost of eight million dollars. These photographs include over 500 images that convey the methods used to construct the Post Office building from both the interior and the exterior.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History of the United States Post Office Building (Pittsburgh, Pa.)(1934-)
On October 13, 1934, the United States Postal Service dedicated their new main postal station for the city of Pittsburgh, culminating three years of construction at the cost of eight million dollars. The principal contractor for the construction was the New York firm, Aronberg-Fried Company, which used primarily Pittsburgh subcontractors. Aronberg-Fried used American raw and finished materials including Indiana limestone and Pittsburgh steel, glass and aluminum. 60,000 yards of concrete, 15,000 tons of steel, and nearly half a million dollars worth of bronze was used to complete the eleven story structure. The basement and sub-basements extend to sixty feet below the street level, and housed most of the mechanisms that enable the building to function.
Architects Trowbridge & Livingston took over two years to design the building, considered extremely simple and spacious throughout its eleven floors. The building measures 531 feet by 146 feet and totals fourteen acres of floor space, more than any other building in downtown Pittsburgh at the time of its completion. The building is adorned with vaulted ceilings, bronze grillwork in the main postal lobby, and three courtrooms furnished with Circassian walnut wood. In addition to the eight million dollars spent in construction, an estimated two million dollars was spent on furnishings. Special features of the building included facilities for loading and unloading of twenty-eight mail cars (readily accessible to postal workers by a half mile of railroad track laid inside the building) and a cold storage vault to insure freshness of perishable goods sent by parcel post. (In 1934, Postmaster Lloyd Booth's postal workers handled items such as fresh chickens, home-made cakes, bouquets of cut flowers). The building also served as the offices for approximately 40 other federal agencies including the U.S. District Court.
Scope and Content Notes
These photographs include over 500 images that convey the methods used to construct the Post Office building from both the interior and the exterior. These photographs were professionally shot by Rembrandt Studios of Pittsburgh and are adorned with great clarity and quality which shows the building's construction from a variety of angles. Most of the photographs of the building's construction are dated along with other photographic information. Many photographs include distinct sections of the construction that warrant individual attention including the curved wall located at the north end of the building and the lower track level built specifically for expediting mail. Many photographs of the building's exterior also include images of nearby buildings in downtown Pittsburgh. These buildings include the Gulf Building, Pennsylvania Railroad Station, Greyhound Bus Station, and photographs of the Lower Hill District (where the Civic Arena was built). Other structures in these exterior photographs include a Gulf Oil Service Station located on the northeast corner of the construction site (along with photographs of the building's east ramp), numerous billboards advertising products such as the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph newspaper, Westinghouse Electric, and political campaigns for County Commissioner candidates McGovern and Barr. While the machinery used in the interior and exterior of the building's construction are found in numerous photographs, relatively few photographs capture the construction crew performing their duties. Included are a small number of photographs which do not relate to the Grant Street Post Office. These photographs primarily depict the Post Offices' main station prior to the Grant Street Station at Fourth Avenue.
Arrangement
The United States Postal Service (Pittsburgh, Pa.) Photographs are housed in two archival boxes. The arrangement primarily depicts the progression of the main Post Office building's (Grant Street) construction from 1931-1934, with other Postal Service photographs arranged afterwards.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials were received in one accession in 1969.
Acc. 1969x. Gift of S. J. DiDomenico.
Preferred Citation
Photographs of the the Post Office Building (Pittsburgh, Pa.), c1880-1934, PSS#2, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania This collection was previously cited: Post Office Building (Pittsburgh, PA.), Photographs, c1880-1934, PSS#2, Historical Society of Western PennsylvaniaGeneral
This collection was previously cited: Post Office Building (Pittsburgh, PA.), Photographs, c1880-1934, PSS#2, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Ricarda I. Dudek on January 26, 1993
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Michael Bolam on January 27, 2000.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.
Subjects
- Gulf Building (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Pennsylvania Railroad Station (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Gulf Oil Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph (Newspaper : Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Trowbridge and Livingston (Architects : Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Westinghouse Electric Company (East Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Hill District (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Advertising, Outdoor -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Advertising, Political -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Billboards -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Buildings -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Central business districts -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Post office buildings -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Postal service -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Service stations -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Street-railroads -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.