US Post Office-East Rochester
Also known as: East Rochester Post Office
Why it's listed
Completed in 1936-7 at the corner of West Commercial and South Garfield Streets, this one-story brick post office serves the village of East Rochester. It has a stone watertable, a slate gable roof topped by a square cupola, and a central entrance framed by fluted Doric columns and a blind fanlight set with a cast aluminum eagle. Inside, the lobby retains a green marble dado, plaster walls, terrazzo floors and wooden teller windows. Its design came from the Treasury Department under Supervising Architect Louis A. Simon and was used for thirteen nearly identical post offices in New York State, the largest related group in the state. Samuel Plato was the general contractor. The building shows how Colonial Revival forms became a standard for federal buildings of the 1920s and 1930s. A mural by Bernard Gussow, painted in 1938, was removed and is stored in the basement. The post office retains a high degree of integrity.
Significance in brief: It is an intact example of the federal public works architecture of the Great Depression, built in a simplified Colonial Revival style. Its design was the most popular in New York State, used for thirteen nearly identical post offices. It reflects the standardization of post office design under 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 88002495, listed November 17, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 206 W. Commercial St., East Rochester |
|---|---|
| County | Monroe County |
| Listed | November 17, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88002495 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1936-7 |
| Architect / builder | Treasury Department: Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect; Samuel Plato, general contractor |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| Areas of significance | Politics/Government, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as in excellent condition, occupied, with a high degree of integrity on the exterior and interior; the Bernard Gussow mural has been removed and is in storage. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 43.11365, -77.48835 (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 88002495.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7890942
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.