{"nrhp_refnum":"12000549","name":"Fullerton Post Office","other_names":["Commonwealth Post Office","Commonwealth Station"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"202 E. Commonwealth Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fullerton","county":"Orange County","state":"CA","lat":33.87185345800003,"lon":-117.92258350499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-08-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Art"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-story Spanish Colonial Revival post office at 202 East Commonwealth Avenue in Fullerton, California, built in 1939 of reinforced concrete and designed by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of the Supervising Architect.","why_significant":"The building is presented as a well-preserved example of Spanish Colonial Revival civic architecture from the Depression era, and as the only federal building in Fullerton. It also holds the 1942 \"Orange Pickers\" mural by Paul Julian, commissioned by the Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts, which has remained untouched and in excellent condition.","narrative":"Fullerton's post office, at the corner of Commonwealth and Pomona Avenues, opened in November 1939 as one of several Depression-era federal projects in the city. Designed by the Treasury Department's Office of the Supervising Architect, it is a symmetrical single-story reinforced concrete building with a full basement. Spanish Colonial Revival features include an arched entryway, a low-pitched clay tile roof, wrought iron details, flat stuccoed walls, and cast-iron lamps. It was placed beside the train station to speed mail handling. Inside, a long lobby with dark wood and terra-cotta finishes follows the standard 1930s post office plan. Above the postmaster's door hangs \"Orange Pickers,\" a 1942 oil mural by Paul Julian, commissioned by the Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts. It shows citrus picking alongside oil and aviation, the town's other main industries. Alterations have been minor, and the building still serves as a post office. Its architecture, intact design and mural are the basis for its listing.","period_of_significance":"1939, 1942","architect_builder":"U.S. Treasury Department, Office of the Supervising Architect","architectural_style":"Spanish Colonial Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a post office; described as structurally sound and in good overall condition, with the mural in excellent condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.63605-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/12000549.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000549/68d4a7e04d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000549/68d4a7e04d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"BarbieS76","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fullerton_Post_Office.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">BarbieS76</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fullerton_Post_Office.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860226","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullerton_Post_Office","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30625898"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/orange-county/fullerton-post-office-12000549/"}