{"nrhp_refnum":"86001210","name":"US Post Office-Beverly Main","other_names":["Beverly Main Post Office"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"161 Rantoul St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Beverly","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.54724581000005,"lon":-70.88384187999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-06-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Beverly Main Post Office is a sandstone federal post office building at 161 Rantoul Street in Beverly, Essex County, Massachusetts, built 1910-1911 and dedicated July 12, 1912, to designs by James Knox Taylor.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is architecturally significant as a Treasury Department building of the early 20th century and as one of the later works of James Knox Taylor's tenure as Supervising Architect. It combines Classical and Colonial Revival (Georgian) design, and its high-quality materials reflect Taylor's design principles. The reviewer noted it as a locally significant example of academic eclecticism.","narrative":"Overlooking Odell Park and the railroad station on Rantoul Street, Beverly's main post office is a one-story Ohio sandstone building on a Chelmsford granite base. Construction began in 1910 and the building was dedicated on July 12, 1912. James Knox Taylor, U.S. Supervising Architect, designed it, and Henry Merritt Wallis served as builder. Its front is dominated by a loggia of six Tuscan columns, while a pitched, cupola-topped roof with three Colonial Revival dormers adds a domestic note. A local newspaper described it as the first pitched-roof, one-story building of its type built by the federal government. Inside, a two-story lobby has a vaulted coffered ceiling and marble wainscot and floor. A buff brick rear extension was added in 1935 under the Public Works Administration. The building is valued as a representative Treasury Department design that blends Classical and Colonial Revival styles and reflects Taylor's preference for quality materials.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"James Knox Taylor - Architect; Henry Merritt Wallis - Builder","architectural_style":"Classical tradition combined with Colonial Revival (Georgian)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition described as excellent; altered by a 1935 rear extension; owned by the federal government and occupied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:12:59.928474-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/7946/63794676/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001210.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001210/be56387572-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001210/be56387572-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jameslwoodward","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beverly,_MA_Main_Post_Office.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jameslwoodward</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:Beverly,_MA_Main_Post_Office.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"13001056","name":"Beverly Depot-Odell Park Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/beverly-depot-odell-park-historic-district-13001056/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794676","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Post_Office_(Beverly,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7890915"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/us-post-office-beverly-main-86001210/"}