{"nrhp_refnum":"85000124","name":"US Post Office-Willows Main","other_names":["Willows Main Post Office"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"315 W. Sycamore St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Willows","county":"Glenn County","state":"CA","lat":39.520468986000026,"lon":-122.20859878899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-01-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small federal post office building at 315 W. Sycamore Street in the center of Willows, Glenn County, California, on a 0.47-acre lot. The site was acquired in October 1914 and the building was occupied in September 1918. It was designed by the San Francisco firm Bliss and Faville.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the most sophisticated and imposing of the few monumental buildings in Willows. It is an intact example of a Beaux-Arts Italianate post office, a type common in the early 1900s but rare in California. The use of a private architectural firm in 1918 was also unusual for federal buildings of the period.","narrative":"Located in the center of Willows, this small post office on West Sycamore Street was built on a site acquired in 1914 and occupied in 1918. Its symmetrical facade has a central arcade flanked by two wings, carried by paired Doric columns with Corinthian capitals. Terracotta reliefs, keystones and quoining decorate the front, and a red terracotta tile hipped roof crowns a steel frame with brick facing and granite ashlar. Inside, bronze post office boxes from the 1930s remain in use, along with marble stairs and oak trim. The design came from San Francisco architects Walter D. Bliss and William B. Faville, whose firm also designed the St. Francis Hotel and the Geary Theater. Willows has few monumental buildings, and this is the most imposing. It was recognized as an intact example of a Beaux-Arts Italianate post office, a type rare in California. Its commission to a private firm in 1918 was unusual for federal buildings of that period.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Bliss and Faville, San Francisco","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance Revival with Beaux-Arts detailing","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Listed in excellent condition and occupied, with some alterations: an access ramp, a new entrance vestibule and a 1960s loading bay canopy.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.998811-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/85000124.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000124/f2fac3dbf4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000124/f2fac3dbf4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"NoeHill","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Willows_Post_Office.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">NoeHill</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:Willows_Post_Office.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857372","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Post_Office_(Willows,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14684214"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/glenn-county/us-post-office-willows-main-85000124/"}