WPA Era Post Offices Ventura and Oxnard

WPA Era Post Offices

Ventura

675 E. Santa Clara St.

Ventura, CA

Oxnard

1961 N. C St.

Oxnard, CA

When I started this blog, this is really the stuff that I wanted to put into it. 

If you were paying attention in your US History Class, then you heard about the Great Depression of the 1930's. The short version is this-if you want to get your country out of a depression, you put everyone to work. Governments have been doing this forever, and it's important to note yet again-the government jump starts the economy by putting as many people as possible doing whatever work they do. 

One of my favorite examples I discovered inside the Hoover Dam when the family was on a 'Dam Trip' a few years back (my kids loved that part of the trip-"Can we go to the dam gift shop?""I want some dam souviners""Look at the dam clock,""What's the dam tempature?" My wife wanted to go to the "Dam car," but the kids and I explained that we didn't have a "Dam car," that those were inside the dam. At least I think that's what she meant). Inside the Hoover Dam, where almost no one can see it, is some really amazing tile work and terrazzo floors, because the people who did those things needed work, too. Thanks to Jennifer Roberts and her Flickr account for this excellent picture from inside the Dam.

And another example is the murals that ended up inside many post offices and libraries. Ventura and Oxnard both have examples of this work. 

This sign from the Ventura Post Office explains as well as I can. The pictures were taken with my beat up iPhone 4, the same one I use for my "Pictures of Ventura Churches" blog.

I really should get the iPhone 6 if I'm going to do all this picture taking.

I found a website that lists all the WPA Post Offices in California.

Oxnard Post Office

I knew the Oxnard Post Office was from the same era, and I was expecting to see the same type of murals when I went in, but there was only one, and it really wasn't very interesting.

The craftsmanship of the building, however, was impressive, with lots of wood and tile. I also noticed that what appears to be a second floor from the outside is actually just a row of high windows, and I imagine that the idea there was for cooling in the time before air conditioning. Hot air rises, and would be blown out by the afternoon winds of Oxnard.

February 5, 2015

Santa Barbara Post Office

836 Anacapa Street

Santa Barbara, CA

I initially wrote this because the Oxnard and Ventura Post Offices reminded me of the Post Offices of Bell, Maywood and Huntington Park, where I grew up. All of those cities grew around the turn of the 20th Century, and were all hit hard by the Depression, which necessitated Roosevelt's WPA building projects.

The Santa Barbara Post Office is of the same era, but reflects the Mission Style that all of the cities' public buildings display, including the great City Hall. In the lobby, though, everything is Art Deco, including the six plaster reliefs, entitled "Transportation of the Mall." The doors and tables have some great craftsmanship, and it was worth the few minutes that I stopped.