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Roy Hilton

Roy Hilton

New Jersey Post Office Mural Artists

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Freehold New Jersey Former Post Office 07728
Freehold New Jersey Former Post Office 07728

A total of forty-five artist created murals in forty-seven New Jersey Post Office buildings during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Four of the artist received multiple commissions as noted below. The artist and their awarded sites as listed below.

We have found having a list such as this is convenient when performing research at the National Archives Records and Administration. Any researcher will reveal, that finding information is part of the fun, somethings what you are looking for is catalogued by the artist name. Other times the research materials you need may be cataloged by the city or town, and so on.

Having a list to refer to is helpful on your journey of discovering these wonderful treasures in our nations post offices.

New Jersey Post Office Mural Artists

  1. Atlantic City – Peppino Mangravite
  2. Boonton – Enid Bell*
  3. Bordentown – Avery Johnson*
  4. Caldwell – Brenda Putnam
  5. Former Cliffside Park – Bruno Neri
  6. Former Clifton – John Sitton
  7. Cranford – Gerald Foster*
  8. Fort Lee – Henry Schnakenberg
  9. Former Freehold – Gerald Foster*
  10. Garfield – Robert Laurent
  11. Glen Ridge – James Chapin
  12. Gloucester City – Vincent D’ Agostino
  13. Haddon Heights –  Isamu Noguchi
  14. Hammonton – Spero Anageros
  15. Harrison – Murray J. Roper
  16. Kearny – Albert Kotin
  17. Linden – Sahl Swarz
  18. Former Little Falls – James Brooks
  19. Matawan – Armin A. Scheler
  20. Metuchen – Harld Ambellan
  21. Millburn – Gerald Foster*
  22. Mount Holly – Enid Bell*
  23. New Brunswick – George Biddle
  24. New Brunswick – Ruth Nickerson
  25. Newark – Romuald Kraus*
  26. Newark – Vicken Von Post Totten
  27. North Bergen – Avery Johnson*
  28. Nutley – Paul C. Chapman
  29. Patterson – Ilse Erythropel
  30. Paulsboro – Nena de Brennecke
  31. Penns Grove – Benjamin Hawkins
  32. Pitman – Nathaniel Choate
  33. Plainfield – Anton Refregier
  34. Pompton Lakes – A. Stirling Calder
  35. Princeton – Karl Free
  36. Ridgefield Park – Thomas Donnelly
  37. Ridgewood – Romuald Kraus*
  38. Riverside – John Poehler
  39. Short Hills – Ernest Lawson
  40. South Orange – Bernard Perlin
  41. South River – Maurice Glickman
  42. Summit – Fiske Boyd
  43. Former Toms River – Milton Hebald
  44. Trenton – Charles W. Ward
  45. Washington – Frank D. Shapiro
  46. West New York – William Dean Fausett
  47. Westfield – Roy Hilton
  48. Westwood – Hunt Diederich
  49. Wildwood – Dennis Burlingame
New Deal Artists Biographies NARA
New Deal Artists Biographies NARA
New Deal Artists Biographies NARA

Sources

Westfield New Jersey Post Office

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Westfield New Jersey Post Office 07090
Westfield New Jersey Post Office 07090

ADDRESS: 153 Central Ave., Westfield, New Jersey 07090
ARTIST: Roy Hilton
TITLE: The New Stagecoach and Building of Westfield
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (murals) 2 panels
STATUS: The Westfield post office is still an active, operating facility, and one mural can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the retail section of the lobby and is best viewed during business hours. The second mural Building of Westfield by Hilton has been reported missing, lost or destroyed.
YEAR: 1935

I arrived after business hours during my visit to Westfield. Luckily they keep the lobby open, however, the retail section where the mural is located is locked. You are able to see the mural through the glass vestibule.

I would have like to have better photos, all the ones you see below were taken through the glass. Not the best option but, as you know by now, my time in New Jersey was limited, and I needed to get what I could during this trip.

After seeing the historical photo of one of the murals, I’m wondering what kind of renovation took place years ago. It appears there was some great woodwork that surrounded the postmasters door just below the Stagecoach mural.

The so-called renovations must have remove this wonderful woodwork. In addition this so-called restoration must have destroyed the second mural. Sad, this visit left me wondering if anyone else has historic photos of the second mural Building of Westfield? Please comment below.

I’m told when the lobby was remodeled the contractor never put the mural back up when the work was done. This leaves me with more questions than answers. Is the mural still in the building? Did the contractor take the mural? Was it sent off for restoration?

UPDATE

I stopped in Westfield again during my August 2021 road trip. When I visited in May the retail section of the lobby was closed and I could only view the mural through the glass. Even though I took some decent pictures through the glass, I was super excited to get better pictures during my August trip.

It was also a pleasant trip chatting with the local clerks. We left wondering what happened to the second mural. Rumor has it, that the mural was destroyed during the lobby remodel years ago.

David W. Gates Jr.

 

“Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.”

Sources