US Post Office (Los Angeles, California)

USA / California / West Hollywood / Los Angeles, California / Wilcox Avenue, 1615
 post office, 1937_construction, historic landmark
USPS Hollywood Station, Los Angeles, CA 90028
1615 Wilcox Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90028

In 1937, renowned art deco architect Claud Beelman, then partner at Curlett and Beelman, could not have had any inkling that his WPA commissioned Hollywood Post Office Building would end up being a dead letter repository for love letters to such Hollywood luminaries as Clark Gable, Judy Garland, et al. 1937 was a landmark year for Beelman, as he was also bestowed the honor of building the Los Angeles County Fair Gallery, commissioned by the WPA. Another interesting fact is that a wood relief, titled "The Horseman", carved by artist Gordon Newell, still stands above a door inside the Hollywood Station Post Office. That sculpture was also another WPA commissioned work in 1937.

One of the few governmental and historical structures left unscathed in Hollywood, whose DMV offices recently have even been razed for some new upscale lofts being built in recent months, the Hollywood Post Office is a standing testament to the solid design ethic of Beelman, a self-trained draftsman turned "moderne" architect at the turn of the last century.

The post office is designed in the "Starved Classical" style, a Depression-era standard for post offices representing economy and simplicity.
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Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Post_Office--Hollywood_Station
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   34°6'0"N   118°19'53"W

Comments

  • Photo #2: "The new bond-selling slogan out Hollywood way is being displayed on the steps of the Hollywood post office every day this week. In a gaily bedecked red, white and blue booth, lovely girls are helping Uncle Sam in the bond and stamp drive under the slogan, "Rally Round the Girls---Buy U.S. Bonds in Defense of our Blondes". Pictured here are some of the lovelies from one of Hollywood's new musical shows, who took over the day's sales, and according to Assistant Hollywood Superintendent J. J. Formeller, the girls are doing a terrific job. Not counting the customers, the girls are (left to right) Jane Hale; Lorraine Ilfrey; Lucille Lambert; and Mary Tolleson. Photo dated: March 11, 1942." Los Angeles Public Library photo collection
This article was last modified 2 years ago