US Post Office-Albion
Also known as: Albion Post Office; See Also:Orleans County Courthouse Histor
Why it's listed
Albion's post office is a symmetrical one-story brick building on Main Street, facing Courthouse Square. Built in 1937-8 for about $52,699, it replaced two Greek Revival houses on a central site and gave the village its first federal building. Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect of the Treasury, designed the plan, which was repeated for thirteen nearly identical post offices across New York State. Its Colonial Revival details include a gabled front with a copper-clad roof and cupola, a fluted Doric entrance with a blind fanlight and cast aluminum eagle, and a denticulated cornice. Inside, the lobby keeps its tile floor, wooden screenline and some original lockboxes. A 1939 mural by Judson Smith, "Along the Barge Canal," shows a tugboat towing a barge through town, recalling Albion's prosperity as an Erie Canal community. The building is significant as an intact example of Depression-era federal architecture and art.
Significance in brief: It is an intact representative example of the federal public works architecture of the Great Depression, designed in simplified Colonial Revival style. Its design was used for thirteen nearly identical post offices in New York State, the largest related group in the state. It also holds a well-preserved 1939 mural, "Along the Barge Canal," by Judson Smith, made under the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts.
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 88002450, listed November 17, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Main St., Albion |
|---|---|
| County | Orleans County |
| Listed | November 17, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88002450 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Treasury Department; Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect; Andover Associates, Inc. of New York City, general contractors |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| Areas of significance | Art, Politics/Government, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied and in good condition; the form says it retains a very high degree of integrity inside and out. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 43.02025, -78.49796 (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 88002450.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q1623924
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.