United States Post Office (Canandaigua, New York)

U.S. Post Office
A light tan stone building with a classical colonnade and pediment on the front with an American flag flying against a blue sky from a flagpole out front. Parked on the street in front is a light blue Honda minivan.
South profile and east elevation, 2014
United States Post Office (Canandaigua, New York) is located in New York
United States Post Office (Canandaigua, New York)
United States Post Office (Canandaigua, New York) is located in the United States
United States Post Office (Canandaigua, New York)
LocationCanandaigua, NY
Coordinates42°53′18″N 77°16′57″W / 42.88833°N 77.28250°W / 42.88833; -77.28250
Arealess than one acre
Built1910
ArchitectAllen & Collens (original);
Louis Simon (expansion)
Architectural styleClassical Revival
Part ofCanandaigua Historic District
MPSUS Post Offices in New York State, 1858-1943, TR
NRHP reference No.88002465[1]
Added to NRHPNovember 17, 1988

The former U.S. Post Office in Canandaigua, New York, is located on North Main Street (New York state routes 21 and 332). It is a Classical Revival granite structure built in 1910 and expanded in 1938.[2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places both as a contributing property to the Canandaigua Historic District in 1984 and individually in 1988, as part of a Multiple Property Submission of over 200 post offices all over the state.[1]

Its construction was authorized in the first decade of the 20th century under the Tarsney Act of 1893, which authorized the federal government to hire private architects to design buildings for its use. Local philanthropist Mary Clark Thompson, widow of banker Frederick Ferris Thompson, donated the land and paid for Boston-based Allen & Collens to design the new building. It is one of only three post offices in the state built under the act, and the only one outside of New York City.[2] In 1938 it was expanded with an additional story under the auspices of Louis Simon, Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department.

At the time of its construction it was also used as a federal courthouse. Three years after it was listed on the Register, the Postal Service moved out for larger quarters. The neighboring YMCA bought the post office building several years later. It has annexed it to its own building and built an extension to the west, but kept the post office building intact.

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original (Searchable database) on 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2016-04-01. Note: This includes Larry E. Gobrecht (December 1986). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Canandaigua Post Office" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-04-01. and Accompanying 14 photographs