New Deal Accomplishment: More than 1,000 new post offices constructed

Above: This building in Towson, Maryland, is a great example of a New Deal-built post office. Photo by Brent McKee, 2009.

Above: An inscribed stone on the outside of the Towson Post Office highlights familiar names from the New Deal. Photo by Brent McKee, 2009.

Above: An eagle greets the postal customer. Photo by Brent McKee, 2009.

Above: The brass, wood, and green marble foyer of the Towson Post Office. Photo by Brent McKee, 2009.

Above: Another familiar name appears on the wall plaque inside the Towson Post Office. Photo by Brent McKee, 2009.

Above: Several historic photos are displayed inside the post office. Here, we see that the John K. Ruff Company was the contractor who constructed the building (with federal funding). Photo by Brent McKee, 2009.

Above: Part of a larger mural in the Towson Post Office featuring milestones in transportation. Other scenes show a sailing ship, steam-driven paddleboat, and a train. It was created by Nicolai Cikovsky (1894-1985) and commissioned by the New Deal's Treasury Section of Fine Arts. He was paid $1,400 for the mural, or about $32,000 in 2025 dollars, and it was completed in 1939. The artwork is one of the many New Deal murals that were installed in post offices and other buildings across the country. Photo by Brent McKee, 2009.

Above: Not all New Deal post office buildings are beautiful of course. This post office in Keyser, West Virginia, built in 1935, has the largely bland architecture that we've become accustomed to today: square; mostly featureless; anemic ornamentation; flat roof (helping to create the near-perfect cube shape); and no artwork inside or out. About the only thing that catches the eye is the arch around the door. Still, give it credit for serving the community for 91 years now. Photo by Brent McKee, 2021.

A Growing Number of Post Offices for a Growing Nation

The exact number of post offices constructed during the New Deal is a bit hard to pin-down. 1,100 is a frequent estimate; but Steve Hutkins, who runs the website "Save the Post Office," highlights information that shows it may be around 1,400. 

At the end of fiscal year 1933, the Post Office Department (as it was then called) reported having 1,496 "Federal buildings, post offices." By the end of fiscal year 1943 (which I tend to think of as the last year of the core New Deal era), that number was up to 3,102, a difference of 1,606. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that there were 1,606 new post office buildings constructed. One can imagine, for example, some existing federal buildings being converted into post offices.

In any event, we know that the New Deal constructed more than 1,000 post offices. Whether the precise number exceeded 1,100, 1,400, or even 1,600, I'm not sure (perhaps someone will contact me with a concrete figure and source). 

All of these new post offices were (and are) great for a growing nation that needed more mail facilities. At the time they were built, the population of the U.S. was about 130 million. Today, it's about 330 million. We've all benefited from the greatly expanded U.S. Post Office infrastructure - and Ben Franklin would have been proud.