Post Office & Auditorium

Post Office and Auditorium. (Watertown, South Dakota). , After years of renting spaces, the US Postal Service constructed the building on the corner of Broadway and First Avenue North in 1908 to 1909. By 1932, it was clear that the facilities were not adequate, which resulted in a well-blended addition. An entirely new building replaced this structure in 1976, leaving the original empty and its future unknown. As a way to protect it, listing on the National Register of Historic Places the same year encouraged recognition of its significance to the community. , The Works Progress Administration took on the City Auditorium project in the late 1930s. It was constructed to include housing and facilities for the 34th Signal Corp with a garage for the Corp's trucks. The Watertown High School Arrow Basketball team played on the maple floor until the 1960s. Around the same time, the police department and city jail moved into the basement and stayed there until 1975. Many community events still take place at the auditorium., 1. High School band playing at the laying of the cornerstone of the city auditorium in 1939. , 2. People milling about in front of the framework of the auditorium in 1939. , 3. Watertown postal employees in uniforms on steps of post office in 1934. , 4. Children on steps of post office in 1909.