The 1937 United States Post Office in Ely, Nevada is located 415 Fifth St. on the southwest corner of Fifth and Clark Streets. It is now known as the Historic Hotel Nevada’s Postal Palace Convention Center.
The following information comes from the NRHP files: (
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The main part of the building is rectangular in plan, one story in height, and encompasses roughly 3,800 square feet. A loading dock with staff rooms above is attached to the rear of the building. This section is about thirty-three feet wide by eighteen feet deep. It is two stories high, but since the loading dock is sub-grade, the roof line is even with the main building. Both roofs are flat. The post office sits on a reinforced concrete foundation, which forms a base three feet nine inches in height about sidewalk level.
Structurally, the building is unreinforced masonry laid in common bond with a header at every sixth course of brick.
The main facade is symmetrical and is composed of a central pavilion flanked by end bays. The bays project a distance of six inches, creating visual relief from the long facade. The wall area of the building is exposed red brick, with pilasters, coping, cornice, frieze, panels, and window sills finished in a gray cast stone (likely concrete with a cement finish). The ornament of this building is classical in derivation,and the symmetrical composition is an important feature of the design. Two earlier reports on the Ely Post Office have identified its architectural style as "starved classicism." Despite the fact the building was constructed during the Great Depression, which may have misled earlier writers, the building's style is derived from Classical Revival rather than modern. The stylized formalism of the entrance elevation and the use of pilasters are prominent classical features. Unfortunately,the most tell-tale classical feature was removed in 1977. The original entrance consisted of a pediment over double doors, flanked by the two pilasters. Despite the simplicity of the features, the building does not suggest Art Deco or International-style connections one would expect in "starved classcism," which is also refered to as WPA Moderne or Federal Deco.
Cast stone is used in a number of the decorative elements. A coping stretches across the top of the building on all sides. A few feet below is a flat cornice that also wraps around the building. The cornice in the central pavilion is molded and in it are etched the words UNITED STATES POST OFFICE ELY NEVADA. An attenuated order with pilasters, minimalist capitals, and an entabulature frame the entrance. Pilasters flank the large windows on the east, south, and north facades, with blank panels below. Sills are located beneath the smaller windows in the loading dock. The cornerstone is set into the concrete base oft he building at the north end of the main facade. It is inscribed with the date of construction (1937), and the names of the Secretary of the Interior (Henry Morganthau, Jr.), the Postmaster General (James A. Parley), the Supervising Architect (Louis A. Simon), and the Supervising Engineer (Neal A. Melick).
The post office has somewhat lost integrity of setting due to changes to the surrounding area. The alterations made to the building since its period of significance include the removal of the original front doors, pediment, and surrounding lights from the entrance bay, and replacement with aluminum doors, transom, and sidelights in 1977. At the same time, a concrete double ramp and new concrete steps for accessibility were built in the front of the building in keeping with ADA requirements, and these additions have compromised the property’s integrity of feeling. Minor alterations include the removal of the original flagpole on the grounds, the mounting of small globe lamps on either side of the entrance, mounting of storm windows over the original windows (although the original windows are visible behind the glass), and landscaping changes in the front.