Downtown Los Angeles in Los Angeles County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
U.S. Post Office Terminal Annex
Los Angeles
Photographed by Craig Baker
1. Post Office Terminal Annex Marker
This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.
Henry Morgenthau Jr, Secretary of the Treasury.
James A Farley, Postmaster General.
Louis A Simon, Supervising Architect.
Neal A Melick, Supervising Engineer.
Gilbert Stanley Underwood, Architect.
1938
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Arts, Letters, Music • Communications. In addition, it is included in the Postal Mail and Philately, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1938.
Location. 34° 3.493′ N, 118° 14.169′ W. Marker is in Los Angeles, California, in Los Angeles County. It is in Downtown Los Angeles. It is at the intersection of Alameda Street and Bauchet Street, on the right when traveling north on Alameda Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 900 N Alameda St, Los Angeles CA 90012, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in California’s Transverse Ranges.
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Sandstone Trough (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Macy Street Grade Separation (about 500 feet away); 1932 Olympic Village Cottage (about 500 feet away); Charlie Chaplins The Kid (about 500 feet away); Zanja Madre (about 500 feet away); Pure Water from Many Sources (about 500 feet away); Italian Hall (about 500 feet away); a different marker also named Italian Hall (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Los Angeles.
Regarding U.S. Post Office Terminal Annex. The United States Post Office Los Angeles Terminal Annex, also known simply as Terminal Annex, was the central mail processing facility for Los Angeles from 1940 to 1989.
Located across the street from Union Station, the Mission Revival and Spanish
Photographed by Craig Baker, July 8, 2026
2. Post Office Terminal Annex Marker
The building was built for the purpose of processing all incoming and outgoing mail in Los Angeles. Though its purpose was principally utilitarian, Underwood sought to keep the building's design in keeping with the city's Union Station, which opened across the street in May 1939. The original building was a three-story structure with two towers and 400,000 square feet of floor space. The lobby includes 12 WPA murals painted by Boris Deutsch during 1941 to 1944 entitled The Cultural Contributions of North, South and Central America.
The $3 million postal annex opened in May 1940 with 1,632 postal clerks, carriers and laborers responsible for the processing of 2 million pieces of mail per day. The facility, which was kept open 24 hours a day, was equipped with the latest facilities for rapid handling of mail, including conveyors, chutes, weighing machines, cancelling machines, and sorting and facing tables. At the time of its opening, it was considered "the most modern and efficient" post office
Photographed by Craig Baker, July 8, 2026
3. Post Office Terminal Annex Marker
Only ten years after its opening, the demands of the city's mail had already outgrown the facility. The Post Office announced plans in 1950 for a $12 million expansion, including an adjoining five-story parcel post building and other structures as well.
By the 1980s, the operations had outgrown even the expanded facilities at the Terminal Annex. The facility's volume had grown by the mid-1980s to 14 million pieces of mail per day. Accordingly, the Postal Service Board of Governors in 1984 approved the construction of a new $151 million general post office in South Los Angeles. Almost 50 years after Terminal Annex became the city's main mail-processing facility, the new processing facility in South Central opened in 1989.
Today, Terminal Annex houses a private data center. The lobby level has a postal counter with stamp sales, and provides mail boxes. A local postal carrier facility is located one block north of Terminal Annex.
Photographed by Craig Baker, July 8, 2026
4. Post Office Terminal Annex
Photographed by Craig Baker, July 8, 2026
5. Terminal Annex Lobby and Murals
Photographed by Craig Baker, July 8, 2026
6. Mural Modern Military
Photographed by Craig Baker, July 8, 2026
7. Mural Telescopes
Photographed by Craig Baker, July 8, 2026
8. Mural Physics Class
Photographed by Craig Baker, July 8, 2026
9. Mural Communications
Credits. This page was last revised on July 9, 2026. It was originally submitted on July 9, 2026, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. This page has been viewed 20 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. submitted on July 9, 2026, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California.
