U.S. Post Office - Willows, CA - Photos Then and Now on Waymarking.com

The U.S. Post Office in Willows was erected in 1917. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The National Register Nomination Form has a good writeup on its architecture and an excerpt reads:

The facade is symmetrical, and consists of a central arcade flanked by two wings. The arcade is carried by a series of double, unfluted Doric columns with Doric Bases and Corinthian capitals. Classically-inspired terracotta reliefs are placed in the central spandrels, and a terracotta "keystone" articulates each arch. Terracotta quoining is placed at each side of the arcade, and on the corners of the front elevation.

This is a stylistically idiosyncratic building, combining an Italianate roofline and arched loggia, with Beaux-Arts detailing. Its most direct architectural antecedents would appear to be Italian Baroque of the 16th century. "Walter D. Bliss and William B. Faville received their architectural training at MIT and with the New York firm of McKim, Mead, and White, known for their interpretation of the Beaux-Arts tradition. Bliss and Faville were prominent San Francisco architects who designed the St. Francis Hotel, the China Basin Building, the Geary Theater, and the Oakland Hotel, all idiosyncratic Beaux-Arts buildings. The structure is significant on both the state and local levels as an intact example of a Beaux-Arts Italianate post office, a type common in the first two decades of this century, but rare in California.

Year photo was taken: 1946

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