Property Record
120 S BEAUMONT RD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Prairie Du Chien Post Office |
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| Other Name: | U.S. Post Office |
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| Reference Number: | 3890 |
| Location (Address): | 120 S BEAUMONT RD |
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| County: | Crawford |
| City: | Prairie du Chien |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1936 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1991 |
| Historic Use: | post office |
| Architectural Style: | Art/Streamline Moderne |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Louis Simon; Neal Melick |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Prairie du Chien Post Office |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 10/24/2000 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. ANOTHER MAP CODE FOR THIS POSTAL STATION IS PO-BB. THE PHOTO CODES, 14/21-25, ARE PREFIXED BY THE LETTERS "PO." The building is an example of the Art Modern style. The plan is "T"-shaped with the public entrance/lobby on the Beaumont Street face. The elevation is organized symmetrically about the entry door. The building is constructed of tan brick with limestone trim. The building foundation is granite. The windows are set in recessed panels with limestone trim. There are engraved limestone panels over the entry door and side windows showing a train, boat and plane. The entry door, transom panel and exterior windows are not original and have a dark bronze finish. There is a limestone course around the building set at the level of the top of the inset facade panels on the front face. The exterior of the building is at a uniform height except for the new loading dock; however, the interior has one floor in the front public areas but two at the rear between the public area and the loading dock. This building is quite similar to the Post Office in Kewaunee which dates form the same year. The entry stairs are granite with a metal railing and the original pole lamps are found on either side of the stairs. This structure is in good condition. The cornerstone notes: "Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury, James A. Farley, Postmaster General, Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect, Neal A. Melick, Supervising Engineer, 1936." The interior has a terrazzo floor and marble wainscot. The walls and ceiling are of plaster. There is the original wood vestibule with its marble wainscot and the original wood trim is present. There is a bas-relief mural mounted on one wall of the lobby. It is engraved "J.E. Green 1938." The building is located in the downtown business/comercial district. ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEERING SIGNIFICANCE: This Post Office is one of four surveyed that were designed similarly. The Prairie du Chien Post Office is a bit simpler in execution and the three transportation motifs over the front entry and flanking windows are simpler than the sculpture found in the Kewaunee post office. Of note in the lobby is the fine bas-relief sculpture by Jefferson Greer. This building appears to meet Critera C for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: This building, which was originally occupied in June of 1937, is the first federally-owned Post Office in Prairie du Chien. Prior to construction of this building, postal services were conducted in various locations selected by a series of local postmasters. Postal service in Prairie du Chien dates from 1823 when Judge James Duane Doty requested he be named Postmaster. (See Bib. Ref. B). This Post Office was one of several constructed in Wisconsin by the federal Public Works Administration in the 1930's. (See Bib. Ref. C). There is a bas-relief sculpture in the lobby of the building created by Jefferson Greer and tilted "Discovery of the Northern Waters of the Mississippi." |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Date of construction - Building Cornerstone. (B) "History of Crawford and Richland Counties, Wisconsin," Springfield, Illinois, 1884, p. 314. (C) "America Builds: The Record of PWA," Public Works Administration, 1939, Appendix. Preliminary Survey of Historic and Architectural Resources. December 1993. Prepared by Joan M. Rausch for Mid-State Associates, Inc. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |