{"nrhp_refnum":"88002451","name":"US Post Office-Amsterdam","other_names":["Amsterdam Post Office"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"12--16 Church St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Amsterdam","county":"Montgomery County","state":"NY","lat":42.93715832200007,"lon":-74.19142676299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-11-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Colonial Revival post office at 12-16 Church Street in Amsterdam, Montgomery County, New York, built in 1935-36 to designs by Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect of the Treasury.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is an outstanding Colonial Revival public building and a very fine example of the moderate-size post offices built in small American cities during the 1930s. It is distinguished by unusually exuberant decoration, including a parapeted gable roof, ridge railings and limestone detail. It also holds two well-preserved 1939 murals by Henry Schnakenberg.","narrative":"Located in Amsterdam's commercial and civic center at Church and Federal Streets, this post office was built in 1935-36 by Ring Construction Company at a cost of $171,920. It replaced an earlier 1910-11 post office that was inconveniently sited away from the business district. Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect of the Treasury, designed it in the Colonial Revival style. The two-and-one-half-story red brick building is laid in Flemish bond and has one-story side wings, a three-arch limestone loggia, brick quoins, limestone roundels and a truncated gable roof with Chinese Chippendale railings. Its decoration is more elaborate than most 1930s post offices in New York State. Inside, the lobby has been largely altered, but the terrazzo floor and marble baseboard remain. Two murals by Henry Schnakenberg, installed in 1939 under the Treasury's Section of Fine Arts, depict a canal packet boat and Sir William Johnson meeting with local Indians.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific dates 1935-6; 1939)","architect_builder":"Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect; built by Ring Construction Company","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Exterior retains a high degree of integrity; interior lobby substantially altered except the terrazzo floor and marble baseboard. Murals are in good condition, restored in the 1970s. Property is listed as occupied and in government use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:44.744546-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/88002451.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002451/c683e22b3e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002451/c683e22b3e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Jess Mann","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amsterdam_Post_Office.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jess Mann</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amsterdam_Post_Office.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313688","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Post_Office_(Amsterdam,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7890904"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/montgomery-county/us-post-office-amsterdam-88002451/"}