DRAFT REPORT USPS NATIONWIDE HISTORIC CONTEXT STUDY: POSTAL FACILITIES CONSTRUCTED OR OCCUPIED BETWEEN 1940 AND 1971 Prepared for U.S. Postal Service 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, Room 6670 Washington, DC 20260-1862 September 2012 URS Group, Inc. 12420 Milestone Center Drive, Suite 150 Germantown, MD 20876 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY ....................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Project Purpose and Need ........................................................................ 1-1 1.1.1 Request for Proposals .................................................................. 1-2 1.1.2 Study Work Tasks ........................................................................ 1-3 1.2 Research and Data Collection .................................................................. 1-5 1.3 Survey of Associated Property Types ...................................................... 1-7 1.3.1 Survey Expectations..................................................................... 1-7 1.3.2 Sampling Methodology ................................................................ 1-9 1.3.3 Field Survey Methodology ........................................................ 1-19 1.4 Context Development ............................................................................ 1-20 1.5 Associated Property Type Development ............................................... 1-22 1.5.1 General Process Overview ......................................................... 1-22 1.5.2 Study Approach ......................................................................... 1-22 SECTION TWO: HISTORIC CONTEXT ..................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Overview .................................................................................................. 2-1 2.1.1 Summary ...................................................................................... 2-1 2.1.2 The 1940s ..................................................................................... 2-2 2.1.3 Post-World War II........................................................................ 2-4 2.1.4 The 1950s ................................................................................... 2-10 2.1.5 The 1960s ................................................................................... 2-16 2.1.6 Postal Reorganization Act.......................................................... 2-20 2.2 Public Works Administration Post Office Legacy, 1940–1942............. 2-21 2.2.1 Summary .................................................................................... 2-21 2.2.2 Inherited Legacy of Public Works Administration Post Office Construction .................................................................... 2-22 2.2.3 Standardized Plans and Dominant Styles .................................. 2-23 2.2.4 Regionalism ............................................................................... 2-25 2.2.5 Colonial Revival and Stripped Classicism ................................. 2-27 2.2.6 Public Art ................................................................................... 2-29 2.2.7 The Early 1940s: Economic Recovery and Wartime Transition ................................................................................... 2-31 2.3 Changing Demographics and the Growth of Suburbia .......................... 2-32 2.3.1 World War II and the U.S. Post Office Department .................. 2-32 2.3.2 America Growing and Moving .................................................. 2-33 2.3.3 Mass Production of Housing in the Post-War Period ................ 2-36 2.3.4 Land Use Planning and the Federal Housing Administration ........................................................................... 2-37 2.3.5 Post Office Development and Suburban Development ............. 2-38 2.4 Transportation ........................................................................................ 2-41 2.4.1 Postal Transportation ................................................................. 2-42 2.4.2 Postal Transportation during World War II ............................... 2-45 2.4.3 Post World War II ...................................................................... 2-47 2.4.4 Suburbia and the Growth of Interstate Highways ...................... 2-48 2.4.5 The U.S. Post Office Department in the Late 1940s and 1950s .......................................................................................... 2-50 i TABLE OF CONTENTS 2.4.6 The 1960s ................................................................................... 2-54 2.5 Mechanization and Operational Development....................................... 2-57 2.5.1 Overview .................................................................................... 2-57 2.5.2 Postal Research and Engineering ............................................... 2-60 2.5.3 Introduction of the ZIP Code ..................................................... 2-72 2.6 Modernism ............................................................................................. 2-79 2.6.1 Origins of Modern Architecture................................................. 2-80 2.6.2 Modern Architecture in the United States ................................. 2-81 2.6.3 The Post Office Department and Modern Architecture ............. 2-83 SECTION THREE: ASSOCIATED PROPERTY TYPES ............................................................................ 3-1 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 3-1 3.1.1 Overview of Associated Property Types ..................................... 3-1 3.1.2 Historic Significance Evaluation: NRHP Criteria Application ................................................................................... 3-4 3.1.3 Registration Requirements: NRHP Aspects of Integrity and Character-Defining Features ........................................................ 3-7 3.2 Property Type: Main Post Offices ........................................................... 3-8 3.2.1 Sub-Property Type: Project Works Administration Legacy Post Offices ................................................................................ 3-11 3.2.2 Sub-Property Type: The Thousands Series Post Offices ........... 3-28 3.2.3 Property Type: Processing and Distribution Centers ................. 3-38 3.2.4 Property Type: Vehicle Maintenance Facility ........................... 3-43 3.2.5 Property Type: Combined Federal Office and Post Office Buildings .................................................................................... 3-48 3.2.6 Property Type: Post Office Annex ............................................. 3-57 3.2.7 Property Type: Postal Complexes .............................................. 3-65 SECTION FOUR: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................... 4-1 SECTION FIVE: BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SOURCES CONSULTED ........................................................... 5-1 5.1 Bibliography ............................................................................................ 5-1 5.2 Sources Consulted .................................................................................... 5-9 Figures Figure 1-1: USPS Historic Context Study, 1940 – 1971 Project Process .................................... 1-4 Figure 1-2: Number of USPS Facilities Constructed or Occupied by Year .............................. 1-10 Figure 1-3: Percentage of USPS Property Types 1940 – 1971 .................................................. 1-11 Figure 1-4: Square Footage Subgroups for USPS Property Types, 1940 – 1971 ...................... 1-13 Figure 1-5: Distribution of USPS Facilities 1940 – 1971 by State ............................................ 1-14 Figure 1-6: USPS Facility Service Office Regions in Relation to URS Offices Nationwide.... 1-20 Figure 2-1: Typical One-Man Plan .............................................................................................. 2-7 Figure 2-2: Typical Multiple-Type Plan ...................................................................................... 2-7 Figure 2-3: Plan -- Parcel Post Building, First Floor ................................................................... 2-8 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Figure 2-4: Plan -- Parcel Post Building, Second Floor ............................................................... 2-9 Figure 2-5: Plan – Postal Station ............................................................................................... 2-10 Figure 2-6: Regions of the Postal Establishment, United States Post Office Department, July 1958 ............................................................................................................ 2-13 Figure 2-7: Plate 15, Design for 1,500-Square-Foot Area ......................................................... 2-15 Figure 2-8: Plate 21, Design for 2,000-Square-Foot Area ......................................................... 2-15 Figure 2-9: Plate 600 Lot A ....................................................................................................... 2-16 Figure 2-10: Plate 600 Lot B ..................................................................................................... 2-16 Figure 2-11: Plate 600 Lot C ..................................................................................................... 2-16 Figure 2-12: Plate 600 Lot D ....................................................................................................