{"nrhp_refnum":"81000175","name":"U.S. Post Office","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"380 Hamilton Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Palo Alto","county":"Santa Clara County","state":"CA","lat":37.446039651000035,"lon":-122.15919355599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-04-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Hamilton Branch Post Office at 380 Hamilton Avenue in Palo Alto, California, is a one-story reinforced concrete building designed by architect Birge M. Clark and built in 1931-33.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it was the main post office building for Palo Alto and is architecturally significant for its Mediterranean-influenced design, which matches the architecture of Palo Alto and the Stanford campus. It was a rare attempt to design a local post office in a popular regional style. It also reflects Depression-era policy of hiring local architects for federal buildings.","narrative":"Occupying a full block near Palo Alto's Civic Center, this one-story post office was built between 1931 and 1933 to a design by local architect Birge M. Clark. Its reinforced concrete walls are finished in uneven stucco that imitates adobe, and a tiled hip roof shades from dark reddish brown at the ridge to salmon at the eaves. An eight-bay arcade of round arches fronts Hamilton Street, with bronze-framed entrances, wrought iron grills and blue and white wall tiles. Inside, the lobby has a stained boxed-beam ceiling, a woven-pattern marble floor and deep red marble wainscoting. Landscaped grounds with mature trees add to the setting. The building was designed during the Great Depression, when federal policy favored local architects to put people back to work. Clark drew on the Monterey and Early California styles and the arcades and tile roofs of Stanford University. It is valued as a rare local post office built in a regional style and as the main post office for Palo Alto.","period_of_significance":"1931-33","architect_builder":"Birge M. Clark","architectural_style":"Spanish Mediterranean Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition and unaltered on its original site; occupied and in government use as a post office, though the original bronze doors were replaced with lighter metal ones.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.332565-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/81000175.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000175/a2cbcddf3e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000175/a2cbcddf3e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Post_Office,_380_Hamilton_Ave.,_Palo_Alto,_CA_5-27-2012_2-11-09_PM.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Sanfranman59</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:U.S._Post_Office,_380_Hamilton_Ave.,_Palo_Alto,_CA_5-27-2012_2-11-09_PM.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861809","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Post_Office_(Palo_Alto,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14684204"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/santa-clara-county/u-s-post-office-81000175/"}