ADDRESS: 4850 North Broadway Street, Chicago, Illinois 60640
ARTIST: Henry Varnum Poor
TITLE: Carl Sandburg & Louis Sullivan
MEDIUM: Ceramic (titles)
STATUS: The Chicago Uptown Station is still an active, operating facility, and the titles can be viewed by interested members of the public. The tiles are located in the lobby on the wall above the retail service counters.
YEAR: 1943
The good thing about visiting post offices in the city is the abundance of artificial light. It was only about 5:00 pm when I visited but the sun had already set so it was rather dark.
While I was there a person at the entrance was opening the door for people. I think I spooked him off because when I started taking pictures he ran off across the street.
The post office has two eagle sculptures draping the front entrance. They appear to be carved out of granite and are an impressive decorative feature. The lobby also contains two great murals. Both are excellent examples of artwork commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts.
The stamped stone list the following, James A Farley as postmaster general, John M Carmody as the Federal Works Administrator, W Englebert Reynolds as commissioner of Public Buildings, Louis A Simon Supervising Architect, Neal A Melick Supervising Engineer, Howard Loveweil Cheney as Consulting Architect. The date on the building is 1939.
Updated November 2015
I had the pleasure of visiting this building again during the daylight hours in October of 2015. The lighting was so much better. I took the time to get additional detail photos of the ceramic title murals. As I’m updating this article I’ve decided to keep the older photos in addition to the new photos. This contrast represents the challenges I face when visiting post offices during the winter months here in the midwest.
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 1/03/2012 and 10/10/2015 by David W. Gates Jr.
- (affiliate link) Illinois Post Office Mural Guidebook
- United States Postal Service
- (affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz