US Post Office-Carthage
Also known as: Carthage Post Office
Why it's listed
Carthage's post office at 521 State Street is a one-story, nearly rectangular brick building completed in 1934-35 on the northern edge of the village's business district. Designed in a very simple Colonial Revival style, it has a slightly projecting central pavilion, a four-column Doric portico with a pediment and eagle, multi-paned windows with denticulated lintels, and a plain stone cornice below a brick parapet. Inside, the lobby keeps terrazzo floors, paneled wainscot and original wood door surrounds. The building was authorized in 1931 under the Public Buildings Act amendment, one of many public works efforts responding to Depression unemployment. It was designed under Supervising Architect Louis A. Simon and is one of three almost identical post offices, the others being in Johnson City and Monticello. Its site required demolition of a Knights of Columbus hall and gymnasium. It is valued as an intact example of 1930s federal post office design.
Significance in brief: It is an intact, representative example of a federal building erected under the public works programs of the Great Depression. Its simple Colonial Revival design reflects the standardization of post office design in the 1920s and 1930s. It is one of three nearly identical post offices authorized in 1931 and designed by Louis A. Simon.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 88002470, listed November 17, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 521 State St., Carthage |
|---|---|
| County | Jefferson County |
| Listed | November 17, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88002470 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1934-35 |
| Architect / builder | Treasury Department; Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect; Walter S. Johnson Building Company, Inc. (general contractor) |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| Areas of significance | Politics/Government, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Exterior retains a high degree of integrity; the interior public lobby has been somewhat altered, including the screenline and lighting. Listed as occupied and in government use. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 43.98048, -75.60710 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 88002470.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7890922
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.