United States Post Office (Schenectady, New York)

The U.S. Post Office in Schenectady, New York, is located at Jay and Liberty streets just north of City Hall. It serves the 12305, 12307 and 12308 ZIP codes, which covers the city. It is a brick Classical Revival building erected in 1912 and added onto extensively in 1933. At that point in time its main entrance was moved to Jay Street.Its detailing, particularly the arched windows, inspired a similar design for the neighboring city hall in 1931. The two buildings were later listed together on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978; in 1989 the post office was listed in its own right.BuildingThe post office occupies most of the block. The neighborhood is densely developed and commercial, with city and county government buildings as well. The terrain is flat.It is a rectangular building faced limestone on the south and west and yellow brick elsewhere. A central pavilion is flanked by north and south wings, the latter of which is the main entrance. Both wings have round-arched windows divided by partially engaged Ionic columns. The former main entrance, on the Liberty Street side, has free-standing Corinthian columns. At the cornice is a balustrade.Inside, the lobby has green marble baseboards, white marble wainscoting and a white marble stair with iron railing. The high plaster ceiling's molded cornice has dentils and modillions, with an eagle on each pilaster. Bronze mailboxes and oak woodwork round out the interior decoration.