{"nrhp_refnum":"88002473","name":"US Post Office-Cooperstown","other_names":["Cooperstown Post Office"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"28-40 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cooperstown","county":"Otsego County","state":"NY","lat":42.700439792000054,"lon":-74.92292514299999,"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 one-story (two at the rear) red brick post office at 28-40 Main Street in Cooperstown, Otsego County, New York, built in 1935-36 to a design from the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury under Louis A. Simon.","why_significant":"It is an intact example of federal public works architecture from the Great Depression, with a restrained Colonial Revival design that emphasizes Greek Revival elements. It is one of seven nearly identical post offices designed by Louis A. Simon in New York between 1935 and 1942. It also holds a 1938 cast-metal relief by Bela Janowsky made under a Treasury art program.","narrative":"Standing on the north side of Main Street at the eastern edge of Cooperstown's business district, this post office was built in 1935-36 to a design from the Treasury Department's Office of the Supervising Architect, led by Louis A. Simon. Samuel Plato of Kokomo, Indiana held the construction contract, and the building replaced a row of commercial buildings that included the former Hoffman House Hotel. Red brick laid in English bond, multi-paned windows and a hipped roof reflect Colonial Revival practice, while a limestone pedimented central section with four pilasters recalls a Greek temple. It is one of seven nearly identical designs built in New York between 1935 and 1942, and it is the most divergent of them. Although the lobby was remodeled in 1978 and 1981, a 1938 cast-metal relief by Bela Janowsky survives in the vestibule. It depicts James Fenimore Cooper and two of his characters. The building's intact exterior, standardized Depression-era design and artwork support its listing.","period_of_significance":"1935-6; 1938","architect_builder":"Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect; Samuel Plato of Kokomo, Indiana (construction contract)","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival with Greek Revival elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Exterior retains a high degree of integrity and is well maintained; the lobby was completely altered in 1978 and 1981. The building is occupied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.536977-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/88002473.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002473/bd06013a71-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002473/bd06013a71-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Jimmy Emerson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Post_office_in_Cooperstown,_New_York.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jimmy Emerson</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Post_office_in_Cooperstown,_New_York.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"80002742","name":"Cooperstown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/cooperstown-historic-district-80002742/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75314339","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Post_Office_(Cooperstown,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7890929"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/otsego-county/us-post-office-cooperstown-88002473/"}