Though it is built of red sandstone, this stone is from a quarry at Wallace, NS, about 35 miles distant, on the north shore directly east of Amherst. The Amherst Redstone Quarry, which supplied the stone for other buildings in Amherst, did not open until three years after the completion of the post office, which opened in 1886.
The post office was designed by noted government employed architect Thomas Fuller, whose previous work included the Ottawa Parliament Buildings, the New York State capital building, and the San Francisco City Hall. Gothic Revival in style, the large and imposing building was built to house lawyer's offices, Customs, Internal Revenue and Weight and Measures offices, as well as the post office.
Atop is a large clock tower, clad in copper which has accumulated nearly 130 years of patina, as for that matter, has the building itself. The tower houses an equally large, four faced clock with Roman numeral numbering. The tower appears to have been constructed entirely of wood.
Old Post Office and Customs Building
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
The Old Amherst Post Office is located prominently on the main street of Amherst, Nova Scotia among large, similarly constructed buildings.
This Gothic Revival style building constructed between 1884-1886, was designed by Dominion Architect, Thomas Fuller. The building and property are included in the provincial designation.
HERITAGE VALUE
The Old Amherst Post Office is valued because it is one of the finest examples in Nova Scotia of the work of Thomas Fuller, a nineteenth century architect of national significance. It is also valued as a prominent architectural landmark in the Town of Amherst.
After Confederation, the Dominion Government embarked on a program of constructing numerous buildings to symbolize its authority and presence in the new nation. The office of the Dominion Architects was created in 1871, of which the most notable holder was Thomas Fuller. Fuller was an Englishman who had designed the Ottawa Parliament Buildings (1859-60), the New York State capital building, and the San Francisco City Hall, before accepting the office in 1881. Under his direction, sixty-six post offices were built in small urban centres where no such buildings had before existed. The Old Amherst Post Office is one of his designs. It was built to house the Intercolonial Railway solicitor, Customs, Internal Revenue and Weight and Measures as well as the Post Office.
This two-and-a-half storey building was built by Rhodes, Curry & Company of Amherst from red and grey sandstone quarried in Wallace. The building is stylistically very much a "Fuller" post office with its symmetrical main façade and asymmetrical side and rear elevations. The front has matching doors on either side and two rows of windows, all having the pointed arch of the Gothic Revival. The stonework is roughly surfaced with contrasting smooth mouldings. A gable and a clock tower surmount a steeply pitched roof.
The Old Amherst Post Office is one of the monumental stone institutions along the north side of Victoria Street streetscape. These buildings, built in stone with the invocation of historical architectural styles of greatness of the past, represent the zealous faith in the prosperity and future of the town.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
Character-defining elements relating to the Gothic Revival style of the Old Amherst Post Office include:
- two-and-a-half storey stone masonry structure;
- symmetrical main façade;
- asymetrical side and rear elevations;
- front matching doors;
- two rows of Gothic Revival style windows;
- nine bay façade;
- roughly surfaced stonework with contrasting smooth mouldings;
- slate hip roof with a large Gothic dormer;
- two flanking small gable roofed dormers;
- central clock tower topped with a cupola;
- decorative details include carved floral motifs, stringcourses and dentils.
From Historic Places Canada