{"nrhp_refnum":"72000839","name":"U.S. Post Office","other_names":["Federal Office Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"121 Ellicott St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Buffalo","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.88159587000007,"lon":-78.87262106199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-03-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A High Victorian federal office building and former post office occupying an entire city block at 121 Ellicott Street in downtown Buffalo, New York, built between 1897 and 1901 and designed by James Knox Taylor.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a notable late nineteenth century federal office building designed by James Knox Taylor, later Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury. Its picturesque granite exterior, carved buffalo heads and cast iron porte-cochère are highlighted, as is an interior with rich materials and a large glass-and-steel-roofed courtyard. The courtyard is described as showing both Gothic revivalism and functionalism.","narrative":"Covering a full downtown Buffalo block, this former post office and federal office building was designed by James Knox Taylor, who later became Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury and also designed the Government Building at the 1901 Pan American Exposition. The government bought the site in 1892, laid the cornerstone in June 1897 and dedicated the $1,500,000 building in March 1901. Its granite walls, tile roofs with copper cresting and 244-foot tower on Ellicott Street give it a picturesque High Victorian outline. Carved buffalo heads, eagles and gargoyles decorate the exterior, and a cast iron porte-cochère marks the Oak Street side. Inside, marble columns, mahogany woodwork and terrazzo floors line the vaulted first-floor corridor. A four-story central courtyard under a steel and glass roof combines Gothic-inspired arches with modern structural technology. A 1936 remodeling added office space by roofing the courtyard's first floor with a skylight.","period_of_significance":"1897-1901","architect_builder":"James Knox Taylor","architectural_style":"High Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in good condition and occupied by federal offices, which the form says were soon to be moved; the Post Office itself had moved out in 1963.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:40.060144-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/72000839.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000839/1b697a3cbd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000839/1b697a3cbd-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Post_Office_Buffalo_NY_Dec_09.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog at English Wikipedia</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Post_Office_Buffalo_NY_Dec_09.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317729","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Post_Office_(Buffalo,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084763"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/u-s-post-office-72000839/"}