US Post Office-Ellenville
Also known as: Ellenville Post Office
Why it's listed
Standing at a downtown corner in Ellenville, this post office was built in 1940 to resemble an eighteenth-century Ulster County stone house. It has random-coursed stone walls, a high gable roof with clapboard gable ends, paneled shutters, multi-light sash and a small cupola with a bell. Local leaders learned that a standard red brick design was planned and appealed by telegram to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who ordered a redesign. Consulting architect Rudolph Stanley-Brown studied stone houses in the Rondout Valley and produced the final plan. Inside, the lobby has wood paneling meant to suggest a colonial interior, and a 1942 mural by Louis Bouche depicts the founding of the first Ellenville post office in 1823. It was the fourth of five Hudson Valley post offices whose design Roosevelt monitored, and it departs from the standardized federal post office designs of the 1930s. Mutual Construction Company completed it in November 1940 for $63,900.
Significance in brief: The building is significant for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's role in its design, which replaced a standardized red brick plan with a regional vernacular stone design. It is one of five Hudson Valley post offices whose design Roosevelt monitored. It also holds a 1942 Section of Fine Arts mural by Louis Bouche and illustrates a twentieth-century interpretation of Colonial architecture.
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 88002496, listed November 17, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Liberty Pl., Ellenville |
|---|---|
| County | Ulster County |
| Listed | November 17, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88002496 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1900- (specific dates 1940; 1942) |
| Architect / builder | R. Stanley-Brown, Consulting Architect; built by Mutual Construction Company of New York City |
| Architectural style | Regional vernacular style modeled on Ulster County eighteenth-century stone houses, with Colonial Revival post office elements |
| Areas of significance | Art, Politics/Government, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as occupied and in public ownership; the form notes minor alterations including replaced lighting fixtures and entrance door, and one filled-in teller window. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Ellenville Downtown Historic District |
| Coordinates | 41.71781, -74.39300 (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 88002496.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7890943
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.