US Post Office-Port Townsend Main
About this property
United States Post Office – Port Townsend Main is a Richardsonian Romanesque building completed in 1893 on a bluff above Port Townsend's waterfront. It was intended to serve as a Federal building that would include a customhouse serving Port Townsend's incipient role in world trade. It was locally reported to be a very fine building for the Northwest, and even in fact that "'for that matter, size considered there is nothing better in the United States.'" But by its completion there was deeper disappointment in Port Townsend about the city not becoming the trade center that it had hoped to become. Architects Mifflin E. Bell and Willoughby J. Edbrooke had designing and/or supervising roles. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1991. U.S. Congress appropriated $9,000 to purchase its land in March 1885. Construction of its basement began in 1889. It was completed in February 1893. This period spanned the time during which Port Townsend hoped to beat out Tacoma and Seattle to become the major port city on Puget Sound. Construction of this customhouse was part of furthering that goal. However the hopes foundered, with a major setback being the November 1890 failure of the bank financing construction of a railroad from Portland to Port Townsend.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was US Post Office-Port Townsend Main listed on the National Register?
US Post Office-Port Townsend Main was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 29, 1991.
What type of historic resource is US Post Office-Port Townsend Main?
US Post Office-Port Townsend Main is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for US Post Office-Port Townsend Main?
The period of significance for US Post Office-Port Townsend Main is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near US Post Office-Port Townsend Main?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near US Post Office-Port Townsend Main will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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