{"nrhp_refnum":"80002584","name":"Bronx Central Annex-U.S. Post Office","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"558 Grand Concourse","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"The Bronx","state":"NY","lat":40.819037759000025,"lon":-73.92658914699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-05-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A government post office building occupying a full city block at 558 Grand Concourse in the Bronx, New York, designed by Thomas Harlan Ellett and built in 1935-37.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it an exceptional example of 20th-century government architecture, combining modified classical ornament with simple detailing and integrated sculpture. Its most noteworthy features are thirteen interior murals by Ben Shahn and Bernarda Bryson, sponsored by the Treasury's Section of Fine Arts. It was found eligible in 1976 for these murals and as an example of Works Progress Administration architecture, despite being under fifty years old.","narrative":"Occupying the entire block between East 149th and East 150th Streets along the Grand Concourse, the Bronx Central Annex post office was designed by Thomas Harlan Ellett and built in 1935-37. Smooth gray brick walls rise above a granite terrace, and marble-arched window openings contrast with the brickwork. Two larger-than-life sculptures on the front facade, \"The Letter\" by Henry Kreis and \"Noah\" by Charles Rudy, were selected from more than 400 models in a national competition. Inside, thirteen mural panels in the main lobby, most eighteen feet high, were painted by Ben Shahn and his wife Bernarda Bryson and completed in August 1939. Inspired by Walt Whitman's I See America Working, they show the varied occupations of American workers. The building was recognized for its restrained blend of classical and modern design and for these murals, even though it was less than fifty years old at the time. The post office remains in use.","period_of_significance":"1935-37","architect_builder":"Thomas Harlan Ellett","architectural_style":"Modified classical ornament with simple detailing; described as subtly suggesting a Georgian precedent without traditional detail","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in excellent condition, with an altered main lobby that has been modernized; owned by the U.S. Postal Service.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:41.662043-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002584.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002584/3d53bfe329-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002584/3d53bfe329-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USPS_GC_150_jeh.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USPS_GC_150_jeh.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316451","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronx_General_Post_Office","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7891133"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/the-bronx/bronx-central-annex-u-s-post-office-80002584/"}