June 1938 – February 2023 (85)
Dear United States Postal Service Building, 229 Main Street, Fort Lee, New Jersey 07024, (FLB) for short.
I wrote the following letter as a way of reflecting on the events of the past few years. I also hope it honors you in some small way. You’ve touched the lives of Fort Lee, New Jersey residents and businesses for generations and will be remembered for your honorable service to the borough of Fort Lee.
It is my hope the following letter gives others an idea of the who, what, why and how, of what transpired leading up to your razing and eventual disappearance from your long-standing home at 229 Main Street in downtown Fort Lee. FLB, I also wrote this letter to express how much I cared, and how much other Post Office Fans cared and to share that love with others.
FLB, you were conceived as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal for America. Several programs were created by our Federal Government in the late 1930s and early 1940s to put people back to work and lift our nation out of the Great Depression.
Thousands of Federal Buildings were constructed during this time, including post offices. You and many others like you are products of this era. Although, there were thousands of post offices created, there are about 1,200 of you which received artwork. FLB this includes you. Not only did you receive artwork, but you received four mural decorations for your lobby. More on that a little later, but for now, here is a little more about your history.
FLB, you were erected by Edmund R. Stearns Incorporated of Montclair, New Jersey, (the general contractor responsible for you coming into this world.) Louis A. Simon was the supervising architect and Neal A. Melick was the supervising engineer. Your baby photo shows exactly how beautiful you were when you were born. Back then we didn’t have color photography like we do today.
As part of their contract with the United States Government, general contractors (GCs) were required to submit photographs of their completed building projects. Here are a few photographs when you were completed. It’s wonderful that we can see your original cornerstone, original lamps on either side of your front door. You were also born with a copper roof, cupola and weathervane, although they are hard to see in this photo with the tree branches in the way.
Your construction started in 1938 as indicated on the cornerstone on your lower right side, now only a memory. You were completed in late June and early July of 1939 at a cost around $47,728. Henry Morgenthau Jr. was the Secretary of the Treasury and James A. Farley was the Postmaster General during this era and played a large role in your creation as well as many others just like you nation-wide.
FLB, you were officially put into service on Saturday July 8, 1939 with a dedication ceremony attended by over one thousand Fort Lee locals. Back then new post office dedications were a big deal. It signified a community was growing and prosperous. This influx of people and businesses warranted the need for a new postal facility, and you were brought into this world to serve the community of Fort Lee. I feel we’ve lost this sense of celebratory ceremonies over the years. New buildings today don’t have all the pomp and circumstance we had in the past.
Your dedication was unique in that it also paid tribute to the late Edward A. Kenney who was responsible for obtaining the Congressional appropriation for your existence. Mr. Kenney’s wife, also spoke during your dedication ceremony, and you were turned over to the first postmaster (caretaker) Mr. David Skelley on July 8, 1939. I like his first name as I’m also a David.
I was first introduced to you in 2020. You were already 82 years old and had served the community of Fort Lee and our nation respectably for decades. I’m trying to remember exactly how our introduction occurred. The specific details are sketchy, but I remember an articled on the Preservation New Jersey website which listed you as one of New Jersey’s most endangered sites in 2020.
I seem to remember reading that article is when I became intrigued with your story. I reached out to the author of the Preservation New Jersey article (Dr. Michael Puma) and have been in contact with Dr. Puma ever since. FLB, it was love a first sight. You caught my eye and as I reflect on the events of the last few years you’ve caught my attention and desire to speak up for other historical post office buildings like you.
Although we were first introduced in 2020, the wheels were already in motion for your demise. It appears the borough of Fort Lee had already been planning on revitalizing their downtown. In 2016, the USPS had agreed to move operations into the borough’s new parking facility located directly behind your existing home at 229 Main Street.
As part of this deal, the borough of Fort Lee agreed to fund the bill to have your murals restored and relocated to another venue in Fort Lee. This apparently was a good deal for the USPS as this arrangement avoided any commitment to restoring or keep the existing building, nor would the USPS have the added expense of the removal and restoration of your four murals. All of which are unproductive expensive for the USPS.
In 2017 North New Jersey posted this article conveying your story and future post office plans. At this time I was still unaware of your story and future. As I look back and reflect on the events, I think it is important to share the timeline of events. The USPS and the borough of Fort Lee, set plans for your demise many years in advance of your actual razing. I was only made aware of your full story starting in 2020.
It is important to comment on the North New Jersey article as it shows the lack of planning and treatment from both the USPS and the borough of Fort Lee. The article states that your four murals would be restored and one of two things would happen. ONE the murals would be installed in the new post office space. Or TWO they would be relocated to another unspecified venue in the borough of Fort Lee.
I point this out as I’ve personally visited the new postal service space in the Fort Lee parking facility. Honestly, the way the new retail space is configured it is nearly impossible to imagine the murals being placed anywhere inside the post office. I didn’t notice any walls or configuration that would accommodate all four murals to be placed anywhere inside.
I point this out as, I don’t believe there were any plans to accommodate the murals inside the new facility in the first place. If the murals were going to be placed here then why wasn’t the new space designed or configured to accommodate them? At the time the deal was made between the USPS and the borough of Fort Lee, construction had not started on the new parking facility. There could have been adjustments to the design plans. Was this an oversight? Was this intentional? Only the powers that be can answer that my dearest FLB.
Now if we fast forward to 2019, the USPS posted the following notice on their website, asking for public input in relocating the Fort Lee postal operations. This was before I was aware of your story, had I known of this, I most likely would have made arrangements to visit you back in October 2019. I would have at least voiced my concern with the USPS to accommodate your murals in the new retail space. But sadly FLB, I’m not sure this was addressed or even a thought back then.
The lack of planning and future accommodations of the various artworks across postal facilities is sorely lacking. One can understand the financial burden on the USPS, but this is artwork for the public and as such should be treated and managed in much the same way museum pieces are handled and protected. Sadly, the lack of planning of your four murals is not unusual as we’ve seen poorly managed transfers in other cases.
To my knowledge and from what I can gather by the various articles and conversations, is that the borough of Fort Lee was pushing hard to revitalize their downtown. The USPS sorely neglected your maintenance resulting in a facility that, rightfully so, was not up to Fort Lee standards for the community of Fort Lee. In addition you never received an ADA ramp to accommodate handicap accessible patrons. These two factors contributed to your fate.
The bottom line is this, The borough of Fort Lee and the USPS negotiated a deal where the borough would build a new parking facility and include new updated retail space for the postal service. In exchange for the borough’s investment in the new facility and post office, the USPS would relinquish/sell or turn over the old post office at 229 Main Street to the borough of Fort Lee.
This was a deal long in the making and it ultimately took years to accomplish, partly because the nation was in the midst of a global pandemic and business and people were sheltering at home. All that being said, a deal like this is still painful. For the average person, borough officials and the USPS moved forward with little regard from the few who did ultimately voiced their opinions and concerns. Their concerns were met with very little response from those in charge to silence in what can only be interpreted as a way to avoid foiling the plans of both parties.
Let’s move on with your story FLB. Here are a few of the items Post Office Fans engaged in to advocate specifically on your behalf.
On April 14, 2021, I wrote a letter to the USPS Federal Preservation Officer Daniel Delahaye speaking up on your behalf. Along with this letter, I also sent Mr. Delahaye copies of my books. It was my hope this would catch the attention of the USPS. Sadly, no response was received or even acknowledged.
And just so the readers of this letter are aware, and get the full picture, the USPS has never once reached out to my self or others advocating on your behalf FLB. I think that is an important thing to remember as we continue your story.
On April 21, 2021, the Mayor of Fort Lee (Mark Sokolich) posted The Borough’s New Post Office video on YouTube publicly stating the borough’s plans to relocate the Fort Lee post office into their new parking facility directly behind where you’ve stood for 85 years.
In this video the mayor also publicly stated plans to have you demolished in favor of a passive park.
Honestly, seeing this video and the power of video, is what prompted me to accelerate my YouTube plans. Creating and publishing videos has always been on the back of my mind, but having seen the mayor’s video is what really kicked me into high gear in learning the YouTube platform and video creation.
In fact several of my early video’s I attempt to advocate on your behalf by providing examples of other buildings very smilier to you that have been successfully repurposed. Some of those examples include, Hudson, Wisconsin, Tipp City, Ohio, Winnsboro, Louisiana and one of my favorites RFD Franklin, in Franklin Indiana and the list goes on.
From there, since I had already written a book on Wisconsin Post Office Murals, I continued the journey with creating videos for each Wisconsin building and mural. Those early videos were not that great, but are meant to showcase the importance of both the buildings and the murals. They are short commercials which are meant to entice viewers to learn more about the history of each one.
Publishing videos on each one collectively showcases these historical treasures. This is our way of celebrating and expressing the importance of this moment in American history. What a wonderful collection this is turning out to be. With one visit to the Post Office Fans YouTube channel you can see all of Wisconsin, all of Tennessee, all of Indiana, and of course, all of New Jersey. This is the ultimate arm-chair travelers dream. You don’t even need to leave the comfort of your own home to enjoy all these wonderful buildings and murals.
Creating and publishing all the videos took great effort as there was a bit of a learning curve for me. However, the goal was to complete the New Jersey series so that the Fort Lee Building could be featured and included as part of the entire family of New Jersey post offices that house murals. This is what your video looks like.
Fort Lee is not a one-off anomaly, it is part of a larger group of special buildings that received artwork. We hope the New Jersey and other state specific playlist showcase this appropriately. We have a long road ahead as we navigate the rest of the states. We feel it is important to showcase your siblings in the same celebratory way in which we’ve covered Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Indiana.
I actually drove out to New Jersey so that Dr. Puma and I could meet with Mayor Sokolich and his staff. The reason for my visit was to help shore up your history and to convey the importance you’ve played in the community and growth of the borough of Fort Lee.
What makes you so special are the four murals which were commissioned to decorate your lobby. Henry Schnakenberg was the artist responsible for the four murals displayed below. It is also worth nothing, Mr. Schnakenberg was also awarded the commission for the murals in the Amsterdam, New York post office.
Indians Trading With the Half Moon
Washington at Fort Lee
Moving Pictures at Fort Lee
and Present Day
As part of the commission the artist were encouraged to visit the post office where the art was to be installed. The reasoning was two-fold. First it was recommended that the artist finalize the exact dimension of the space being decorated and second was to meet with the postmaster and other prominent citizens to come up with appropriate content for the design of the murals.
The important piece that often gets overlooked is the “time and place” and the reason I pushed so hard for your protection is this concept. The murals were designed specifically for your lobby. Sure it is possible to have them removed and placed somewhere else, but all the research I’ve done speaks to the artist creating their designs based on this “time and placement” in the buildings they received their commissions.
When we remove and relocate the murals and then demolish the buildings where the art was housed, we loose a piece of this history. This concept of “time and place” gets erased and is irreplaceable. I’d also like to remind folks, that communities like Fort Lee, do not operate in their own world. As much as we like to think a mayor and its citizens are only responsible for their direct community, when it comes to the postal service and the historical buildings and artwork, we are all connected and as such, we should all have a say in the use and protection of the buildings and art. After all the goal of the Section of Fine Arts was art for everyday Americans, and that in my opinion includes the original location of the artwork. For without the original location, the artwork looses the artist full vision when their art was designed.
In April of 2021, I sent Mayor Sokolich a copy of Wisconsin Post Office Murals and Tennessee Post Office Murals. My reasoning was to physically show what our project looks like. Both Wisconsin and Tennessee provide a glimpse of what a New Jersey book will look like when completed. It is my intention to write and publish the full mural book for New Jersey. I distinctly remember telling the mayor I’d dedicate the New Jersey book after him, if he’d save the building. We got a chuckle and it was my feeble but humorous way of trying to save you. Here is a picture of what I sent Mayor Sokolich.
In May of 2021 I attended the borough of Fort Lee’s city council meeting. It was during this time that I spoke up on behalf of saving you and so did Dr. Puma. I attempted to explain the importance and your history to the city council members and public. Because we were still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, I attended this meeting virtually over the phone. I was also armed with a letter from another advocate on your behalf. I read this letter to the folks in attendance during that meeting.
Mayor Sokolich invited Dr. Puma, a local resident, of Fort Lee to his office to discuss the issue further. I chimed in during this conservation to voice that I’d also be willing to travel out to Fort Lee to discuss the matter. He accepted and from there I started planning my trip to visit you.
Once in Fort Lee, I gave you a big hug and took a few selfies with you. Little did I know how busy you are. Customers were lined up in your lobby, making it nearly impossible to enjoy the murals and your lobby unobstructed. I was hoping to photograph you without patrons in the way, but your service to the community was a priority.
Exterior photographs of you were also a challenge, as cars were coming and going at all hours of the day. I was quick enough and managed to get a few awkward photos just as the cars pulled away, but it was a challenge and I spent a great deal of time admiring you from across the street.
Our meeting with the mayor and his staff took place on Friday May 21, 2021. I brought my books again to have as a prop and to physically show the work we are doing. The mayor thanked me for the books I sent him, which he stated he appreciated.
We tried to convince the mayor and his staff to keep the building. I specifically stressed the historical importance of keeping you. Dr. Puma and I also explained serval ideas of repurposing you into something commercially feasible. I’ve visited hundreds of post offices just like you and can honestly say buildings like you that have ben restored are beautiful and solid and an asset to their downtown communities. We’ve seen and have proof of many buildings just like you FLB which have been repurposed successfully.
During this meeting I also stressed that if the building was not going to be saved, that we’d really want to get inside to photograph and document the placement of the murals before they were removed or the building was demolished. It was at this meeting the mayor promised to keep in touch and that he would accommodate our request to perform this documentation work.
If I recall he also promised to have the murals and building photographed by his staff. Sadly, there is no indication that this ever occurred. The murals were removed without public knowledge and the building was razed without any communication from the borough of Fort Lee. When I pressed his staff, I was told the building was unsafe and they would not have allowed anyone in the building anyway. That to me is code for we don’t want to be bothered and we are going to proceed on our own terms.
But just to be clear, I was willing to follow any rules imposed by the borough or demolition contractor, or sign any disclaimers or release of liability, anything to perform the work I wanted prior to your decommission and razing. Sadly, FLB, that did not happen.
I point out this carelessness and deficiencies not to specifically call out the mayor, his staff, or the demolition contractor, but merely to showcase the course of events. There are so many factors at play, and the show must go on. I’m not sure how I would have approached it any differently if I had to do it all over again. I voiced my opinions and concerns and they feel on def ears. Aside from having deep pockets and political influence our efforts were feeble.
My thought at the time in 2021 was to travel to New Jersey specifically to meet with the mayor and to spend time with you before it’s too late. As it turns out I made two targeted trips to New Jersey in 2021. The first trip was in May 2021 to visit with the mayor and to visit you FLB.
During this trip, I was also able to acquire almost all the external photographs of the 46 other post office buildings that have or had artwork installed. I cherish each and every visit I made, but I also had laser focus on getting what I needed to go home and write the Guidebook for New Jersey, and that is exactly what I did. This is what it looks like.
I subsequently made another trip in August of 2021 to complete photographing the exterior of the New Jersey buildings with artwork. As you know having a photograph of the front facade of each building is one feature of the guidebooks. In addition it is also my mission to visit each one personally. It was a delightful experience visiting each of your 46 siblings.
Writing and publishing the New Jersey Guidebook was not on my radar at the time we were introduced. I was consumed and quite happy working in the midwest and getting those states done first. However, with the imminent threat of loosing you, I put aside my work and focused exclusively on writing the New Jersey Guidebook. Once the guidebook was completed, I promptly sent several copies to the mayor’s office thanking his staff and hoping for a miracle and that they’d reconsider razing you.
Some time around June 17, 2022 the USPS posted the following notice on your front door. I along with a few others wrote again to the USPS speaking up on your behalf and the importance of saving you. Again, nothing but crickets from the USPS, no response was heard by anyone speaking up on your behalf. At least nothing that I’m aware of.
As an author and advocate for the buildings and with little other influence, or deep pockets this was the best we could do to show and tell the importance of saving you.
I humbly appreciate the hospitality of the mayor and his staff for meeting and listening to us. I also appreciate the few mementos that were saved. But that still does not take away the sting of loosing you. When we all know full-well that you could have been restored and repurposed successfully.
Towards the end of 2022 and early 2023 when it became apparent we were not going to be let into the building, I made several calls in hopes of saving something, anything. I always got the impression that the demolition company wasn’t going to save anything or that if they were any parts would be pillaged by the workers or contractor responsible for your razing.
As it turns out, there are a few pieces of you which escaped the landfill. Luckily we have your original lamps, the letters from the front facade, some post office boxes and a single brick. At least we have these to remember you.
The borough promised to include your original cornerstone in the new passive park. I hope this is still the case and that if and when I visit Fort Lee again, I’ll have something to visit and see.
My dearest Fort Lee building you were neglected by your caretakers once operations fully ceased. The USPS officially moved out in September 2022. January of 2023 was especially tough, the demolition of you started and continued into February 2023. You were finally laid to rest on February 9th, 10th and 11th. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact day or hour. This sort of information is not conveyed or communicated to the public by those in charge.
You stood strong for eighty-five years. Your service to the community and country may not have been appreciated by all, but always know you were loved by post office fans everywhere.
I miss you already, and I will always be thankful for the short time we spent together. I vow to continue speaking on behalf of your siblings. I know some of them need extra special attention, first up on the list is the former Des Plaines, Illinois, post office and Federal Building. My fear is I’ll be penning another one of these letters in the near future.
RIP Fort Lee Building, we have more work to do.
David W. Gates Jr.
Author – New Jersey Post Office Mural Guidebook
