U.S. Post Office Building

U.S. Post Office Building. . It would seemingly be impossible to erect a better building. – Kentucky New Era, March 1, 1915 , 1915: The U.S. Post Office opened with great fanfare on Feb. 27, 1915. Constructed over a 15-month period, the building was the first federally erected post office in Hopkinsville. Using the finest materials of the day, the building's total cost was $100,000. The Post Office contractor was Paradis Construction Co. of Louisville. , . Exterior: Walls were constructed of poured concrete with a limestone facade quarried near Bowling Green. Built in the Classical Revival style, the design borrows elements from Greek and Roman temples and government buildings popular in the U.S. from 1895-1950. The symmetrical front elevation features a full portico supported by sic Ionic columns with corresponding aligned pilasters and four exquisitely carved bas-relief horizontal panels between the floors. A copper overlay covered the original roof. , . Interior: Three kinds of marble, quarter sawn oak and polished brass finishes grace the interior. Two vaults with burglar-proof safes held money and stamps. Eva Royalty, the first woman in the U.S. appointed as a postal savings clerk, worked here from 1915 to 1932. A lookout gallery above the mail sorting room allowed the postmaster a surveillance view of workers. The second floor provided lounging rooms complete with toilets and showers for mail carriers. , 1967: The U.S. Post Office was moved to a new facility on First Street on Feb. 4, 1967. The old post office building served as a servicemen's center during 1968-1970. The City of Hopkinsville purchased the stately building in 1975 for future use as a museum. , 1976: The Pennyroyal Area Museum opened on July 8, 1976, with a mission to collect, display and share the history of Hopkinsville, Christian County and the Pennyroyal region. After an extensive renovation in 2019-2020, the Museum reopened on Feb. 27, 2020, and continues to share authentic exhibits, artifacts and stories about this region's unique history and diverse heritage. , This building stands within the Hopkinsville Commercial Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places. , [Captions] , Top row, left to right: , . Colorized postcard depicting the stately new Hopkinsville U.S. Post Office Building. Image courtesy of the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County , . Foundations were poured and basement walls took shape in February 1914. , . J. [unreadable] Hall (right), president of the Hopkinsville Homebuilders Association, presented a photograph of the “Blue Lantern” home (built 1851-1854) to D.O. Cayce III (center) and William T. Turner (left). The homebuilders funded a project to [unreadable] for the Museum. , Bottom row, left to right: , . After an extensive renovation, the Pennyroyal Area Museum celebrated a Grand Reopening on Feb. 27, 2020. Alissa Keller (Museum Executive Director) and William T. Turner (Museum founder and Hopkinsville-Christian County Historian) are in the center holding the ribbon-cutting scissors. , . The U.S. Post Office's grandeur stood in solemn witness to this World War II armed services induction ceremony (ca. 1941). The Selective Service office was located in the Post Office's second floor for several years. , . By coincidence, this photo (above) was snapped at about the same moment as the wider view of the armed services induction ceremony (left). , . For several years the Hopkinsville Homebuilders Association [unreadable] to beautify the Museum's grounds. [unreadable]