Old Post Office
123 4th St., Albuquerque, NMThe Old Post Office building is important primarily for its architectural contribution to the historic core of Albuquerque's Central Business District. A handsome and finely-detailed building, it was constructed in an unusual style for Albuquerque, in 1908. Since then, it has been an important element of downtown life, and it remains one of the city's most attractive and interesting buildings. In heavy use by a number of federal agencies, the Old Post Office has seen some interior partitioning and remodeling, but could easily be restored.
The Old Post Office is the earliest of Albuquerque's federal buildings still standing. A 1908 city promotional pamphlet proudly notes that plans for a new Post Office building were approved since in 1907 Albuquerque went into the first post office class, having exceeded the $40,000 turnover required. The expected cost of the building was $100,000. A drawing of the proposed building in the pamphlet shows a simple 2-story structure with an extra story at the basement level. The only visible entrance is an elaborate arched doorway on the southeast corner crowned with a large ornamented pediment, resulting in a highly unbalanced facade. The present building is much more satisfying with its restrained details and welcoming symmetry.
The finished building, as is usually the case, cost much more than the projected figure; Twitchell's Leading Facts of New Mexican History (Vol. III, 1917) notes "a fine government Post Office Building erected at the cost of $200,000." Twitchell goes on to say that the building already "is not adequate for the purposes to which it is given over - post office, court, and other tenants - and the general government is expected soon to make provision for another and larger structure in keeping with the city's demands." (p. 10) Within the next 13 years, an addition was built to the 1908 building and the grander 1930 Federal Building was erected.
The supervising architect for the Old Post Office was James Knox Taylor and the contractor was Anders Anson, who went bankrupt due to changes in construction plans. We have been unable to learn more about Mr. Taylor; a request for information from the General Services Administration Historic Officer in Fort Worth has not yet been answered.
The Old Post Office is a fine reminder of the care and human scale with which government buildings were once built and a very important architectural element in the historic core of downtown Albuquerque.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.