Rhode Island Picture Post Cards - The Old Post Office - Providence, Rhode Island

Rhode Island Picture Post Cards
The Old Post Office - Providence, Rhode Island - 1912
(Scroll Down for History and Background Information)

Machine Cancel October 11, 1912

Construction on the Providence Post Office, which also included the Custom and Court Houses, was begun in 1904 and completed in 1908. The new Post Office was constructed at Exchange Place, (currently Kennedy Plaza) and replaced the old Post Office building located on Weybosset Street. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Clarke and Howe and is a splendid example of the classic Beaux Arts style of design that was in use for public buildings at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The old Providence Post Office Building is a magnificent example of the style used on Federal buildings of the period and one of the very few examples found outside of Washington, D.C.

The Providence Post Office, Court House and Custom House was under construction for a period of four years under two separate contracts. The firm of Clarke and Howe was awarded the architectural contract and the firm of Horton & Hemingway was awarded the general construction contract. Actual work at the construction site began on December 22, 1904.

Construction of the new building included: 3,500,000 bricks, 70,000 cubic feet of granite stone, 1,465 tons of steel, and 80,000 feet of electrical wiring. Marble for the project came from Vermont and Italy and the limestone was quarried in Indiana. The mahogany paneling was produced in Mexico and the maple, oak and ash came from Ohio. The final construction cost was $1,300,000.00.

After the new Automated Providence Post Office was completed in 1960, the building was turned over to the GSA in 1961 and renamed the Providence Federal Building and Courthouse.