United States Post Office Terminal Annex (Federal Building) - Dealey Plaza Historic District - Dallas, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 32° 46.660 W 096° 48.457
14S E 705336 N 3628766
Building is not open to the public. WPA artwork cannot be viewed.
Waymark Code: WM114CW
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/14/2019
Views: 6
NRHP Nomination Form"The Terminal Annex building was constructed in 1937 as a New Deal public works project by the well known local firm of Lang & Witchell.
It is a 5-story building 200' by 200' and is clad with granite, white limestone, and white brick in a simplified Art Deco or "stripped down Classical" style. Its main face is on Houston Street, with a secondary facade on the north along Commerce Street extended. The Terminal Annex handled bulk mail, most of which traveled by rail in the 1930-60s. Rail cars could be shunted to loading bays on the west off-street side, and trucks had a similar approach on the south facade.
The exterior is clad at the base with polished gray granite as a water table; then smooth-cut creamy limestone through the second office level, with a band of fluting just above the water table; and finally light tan brick to the unadorned parapet just above the sixth level. The roof is flat.
The Houston Street facade is a symmetrical and Classical composition, divided by shallow definition into end pavilions and central pilasters. The eight window bays between the pilasters are accented only between the third and fourth floors by octagonal reliefs in the limestone spandrels. The three window bays in the comer pavilions are accented with fluted limestone spandrels between each floor from three to six. Two public entry doors are centered on Houston Street and defined by gray granite door surrounds, carved with Classical and governmental motifs. Dark metal lamp compositions are mounted on the three pilasters that define the two entry bays. Applied metal letters name the building above the entry. Currently, they indicate "Federal Building." Whether they formerly read "Terminal Annex" is unknown.
The Commerce Street/Dealey Plaza facade has a similar pattern but with ten bays defined by pilasters between the end pavilions and no public entries.
The lobby contains two large 1940 frescos, "Air Mail over Texas," over the entrance to offices off the lobby, and "Pioneer Homebuilders," covering the upper wall at the north end of the lobby. The murals are by well known Texas artist Peter Hurd."
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