New Jersey

New Jersey Post Offices

Fort Lee New Jersey Post Office

May 31, 2021 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 229 Main St., Fort Lee, New Jersey 07024
ARTIST: Henry Schnakenberg
TITLE: Indians Trading with the Half Moon, Washington at Fort Lee, Moving Pictures at Fort Lee, and The Present Day
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (murals) 4 panels
STATUS: The Fort Lee post office is still an active, operating facility, and the murals can be viewed by interested members of the public. Three reside on the walls of the main lobby above the retail counter. The forth one resides above the postmaster’s door. The borough plans to demolish this building for a park. At the time of this publication, the murals are to be relocated to the community center.
YEAR: 1938

May 18th – 23rd, of 2021 I visited New Jersey. The purpose of my trip was to personally visit the Fort Lee post office before it is lost forever.

Ever since this story was brought to my attention, I’ve been fascinated with this building. I absolutely love the copper roof and look of this historic building. It’s also a treasure in that it has 4 murals by the artist Henry Schnakenberg. As most of you know, buildings of his size usually only have one mural, but to have four is truly unique.

Since the borough has plans to demolish the building for a park, I knew I had to make the trip to New Jersey and experience this building myself. So that is exactly what I did in late May 2021. I’m delighted I was able to make the trip. In addition, I was also grateful for the wonderful weather. I can’t imagine having to drive all this way only to be faced with cloudy or raining weather.

Fort Lee New Jersey Post Office 07024 Mural10c1

Luckily, I was able to enjoy and experience this building with plenty of sunshine. I visited a second time on Sunday before heading home. The pictures are more difficult to take as the sun rises behind the building. Taking photos into the sun is more difficult and the images turn out darker.

My wish is the borough will reconsider demolishing their building and include it as part of their new park. I see Art in the Park, as a viable event for the future of the Fort Lee building.

Fort Lee New Jersey Post Office 07024 Mural3c1

Art in the Park, with Henry Schnakenberg’s murals as highlights that everyone can enjoy! I also think a nice National Park Historic Places plaque could also be added for tourist to enjoy!

David W. Gates Jr.

Fort-Lee-New-Jersey-Post-Office-07024-DG6-copy

Fort Lee New Jersey Post Office 07024 DG

RIP Fort Lee Building (photo credit Michael Puma)

Fort Lee New Jersey Post Office 07024 Mural21c1

Fort Lee New Jersey Post Office 07024 Mural7c1

Sources

Personal visit on 05/20/2021 about 12:30 PM, 5/23/2021 about 7:00 AM and 8/12/2021 about 6:02 PM by David W. Gates Jr.
(affiliate link) New Jersey Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
United States Postal Service
(affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
North New Jersey Article
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2020/05/14/fort-lee-post-office-among-njs-10-most-endangered-historic-places/5189729002/
Preservation New Jersey
https://www.preservationnj.org/listings/fort-lee-post-office/
Save The Post Office
https://www.savethepostoffice.com/fort-lee-post-office-named-one-of-new-jerseys-10-most-endangered-historic-places/
NJ.com N.J. post offices showcase Depression-era public art – nj.com

Former Freehold New Jersey Post Office

May 30, 2021 By David W. Gates Jr.

Freehold New Jersey Former Post Office 07728

ADDRESS: 50 E. Main St., Freehold, New Jersey 07728
ARTIST: Gerald Foster
TITLE: Molly Pitcher
MEDIUM: Tempera (mural)
STATUS: The former Freehold post office is no longer an active, operating facility. The mural was moved to the Monmouth County public library. The mural can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the lower level stairwell and is viewed by the public.
YEAR: 1934

May 18th – 23rd, of 2021 I visited New Jersey. The purpose of my trip was to personally visit the Fort Lee post office before it is lost forever.

Freehold was another stop during my visit to New Jersey. It’s always a challenge to get the lighting and timing right. The weather was great while I was visiting, love the bright blue skies. In this case the sun was behind the building off to the left. This made the front of the building darker in my images. Since I was crunched for time. I took what I could get this time around.

Thanks to the friendly ladies at the library for showing me the mural and discussing the artist decedents visiting the library to see their great grandfather’s work. The article in the paper discusses this visit which is posted near the mural.

David W. Gates Jr.

Sources

Personal visit on 5/21/21 about 8:54 AM by David W. Gates Jr.
(affiliate link) New Jersey Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
Monmouth County public library. (Monmouth County Library System – Monmouth County Library Website)
NJ.com N.J. post offices showcase Depression-era public art – nj.com
Monmouth County Clerk (Monmouth County, NJ Clerk (monmouthcountyclerk.com))
Monmouth County New Jersey (https://www.monmouthcountyclerk.com/archives/record-groups/other-county-records/molly-pitcher-mural-1991/). Accessed June 15, 2021.
(affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz

Cranford New Jersey Post Office

May 29, 2021 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 3 Miln St., Cranford, New Jersey 07016
ARTIST: Gerald Foster
TITLE: The Battle of Cranford during the American Revolution
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (murals) 3 panels
STATUS: The Cranford post office is still an active, operating facility, and the murals can be viewed by interested members of the public. One large panel resides on a wall in the main lobby. A second panel resides on an adjacent wall above the mail boxes. One smaller panel resides in the retail section of the lobby.
YEAR: 1935

May 18th – 23rd, of 2021 I visited New Jersey. The purpose of my trip was to personally visit the Fort Lee post office before it is lost forever.

Cranford was another stop during my visit to New Jersey. Another busy place, I think I waited around a good half hour or so to get the images you see with no cars or people. Very challenging yes, but I’m glad I waited around.

Note, I did NOT break the downspout in front of the cornerstone. It was that way when I found it. I’m not sure what I would have done if it wasn’t broken as that would have prevented me from photographing the cornerstone. While I’m sad to see the downspout obstructing the cornerstone, I’m glad it was already broken so I could get a good photograph of it.

The murals in Cranford are huge and take up the entire wall space of the lobby. There is absolutely no way that I’m aware of to get the entire mural in one photograph. Good thing for video as that seems to be the best way to really observe an enjoy the artwork in Cranford.

It also appears the lobby was extensively remodeled in the past. The smaller panel was obviously designed to fit over the postmaster’s door as you can see by the cutout at the bottom.

As for the larger panel, it appears the mural was too big and had to be cut to fit the space. The leftover panel was move to the retail section and what you see in the smaller panel. Interesting indeed. At least that’s what the postal clerk and I chatted about while I was onsite.

If I’m wrong in my assessment of any of this by all means please comment below. I’d love to hear more about it.

UPDATE

I stopped in Cranford during my August 2021 road trip. The weather was great with bright blue skies. The chance to get a better exterior photograph is always a treat.

Thank you,

David W. Gates Jr.