{"nrhp_refnum":"85000137","name":"US Post Office-Downtown Station","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"815 E St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Diego","county":"San Diego County","state":"CA","lat":32.71412090600006,"lon":-117.15697271099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-01-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large Starved Classical post office at 815 E Street, just outside downtown San Diego, California, built of reinforced concrete over a structural steel frame. Construction began in 1936 and finished in 1938 to designs by William Templeton Johnson.","why_significant":"It is argued to be significant at the state level as one of the earliest and largest Starved Classical buildings, and exceptionally significant locally as a rare surviving 1930s building in downtown San Diego. It also shows Depression-era craftsmanship and sturdy federal construction. Its terracotta relief panels by Archibald Garner are the only known federally sponsored sculpture in the city.","narrative":"This post office at 815 E Street in San Diego was built between 1936 and 1938 and designed by local architect William Templeton Johnson. It is a symmetrical Starved Classical building with a structural steel skeleton, reinforced concrete walls and fluted piers between tall window openings. Four terracotta relief panels by sculptor Archibald Garner, showing a train, ship, airplane and car, sit above the entrance windows. Inside, the lobby keeps limestone pilasters, bronze fittings and black-glass desks. Johnson was best known for Spanish Colonial Revival work, so this building is unusual in his career. The nomination presents it as one of the earliest and largest buildings in the Starved Classical style, which was common for large post offices of the mid-1930s. Locally it is one of the few surviving 1930s buildings near downtown, and its reliefs are the only known federally sponsored sculpture in San Diego. Later changes include an accessibility ramp and new lobby lighting.","period_of_significance":"1936-1938","architect_builder":"William Templeton Johnson","architectural_style":"Starved Classical (Starved Classicism)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in excellent condition at the time of the form, with government use. Some alterations are noted, including a ramp and automatic door added in the early 1970s and replaced lobby lights.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.593235-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/85000137.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000137/b672e14562-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000137/b672e14562-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jeffrey Beall","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Diego_Post_Office.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Jeffrey Beall</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:San_Diego_Post_Office.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857778","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6049272"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-diego-county/us-post-office-downtown-station-85000137/"}