{"nrhp_refnum":"99000724","name":"Graham Post Office","other_names":["United States Post Office, Graham, Texas","Old Post Office Museum and Fine Arts Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"429 Third St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Graham","county":"Young County","state":"TX","lat":33.10581415300004,"lon":-98.67667360399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-06-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Art"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1 and 1/2 story buff brick post office in the Art Moderne style at 429 Third Street in downtown Graham, Young County, Texas, on the courthouse square known as Commerce Park. Construction began in 1935 and finished in June 1936.","why_significant":"The building is significant locally under Criterion C in architecture as an example of the Art Moderne style promoted for federal Depression-era buildings, designed by U.S. Treasury architect Louis A. Simon. It is also significant in art for the 1939 lobby mural by regional artist Alexandre Hogue, a member of the Dallas Nine. The building keeps a high degree of architectural and artistic integrity.","narrative":"Completed in 1936 on the courthouse square in downtown Graham, Texas, this small post office reflects the Art Moderne influence on federal buildings of the Depression era. Designed by Louis A. Simon of the U.S. Treasury, it is built of buff brick with a flat roof, cubic massing, a cast-stone cornice, and a frieze of geometric zigzag patterns. Ornamental aluminum grillwork and sculptural lights flank and top the entrance. The lobby keeps its dark wood paneling, original furniture, and a vestibule of wood. Above the postmaster's office door hangs a 1939 mural by Alexandre Hogue, a leading Texas regionalist and member of the Dallas Nine. Titled Oil Fields of Graham, it shows oil workers, an executive, and the town founder Edwin S. Graham against a backdrop of derricks and storage tanks. The building was the town's first permanent post office, costing $60,000, and has changed very little since construction. Its architecture and mural together illustrate federal public building and art programs of the 1930s.","period_of_significance":"1935-1949","architect_builder":"Simon, Louis A. (U.S. Treasury Architect); Hogue, Alexandre (muralist)","architectural_style":"Modern Movement: Moderne (Art Moderne)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as work in progress; the building has had only minor alterations such as handrails, a relocated flagpole and non-historic aluminum entrance doors. It is also known as the Old Post Office Museum and Fine Arts Center.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.800876-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/43/9740/40974043/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/99000724.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000724/747ab4a176-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000724/747ab4a176-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GrahamPostOffice1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</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:GrahamPostOffice1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40974043","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107319797"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/young-county/graham-post-office-99000724/"}