Formerly the Wappingers Falls Village

Hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

this building now houses the Police Department. It is located at the corner of South Avenue ( NY 9D) and East Main Street in the village of Wappingers Falls,

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later organ ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

History

It was originally built in 1940 as the village's new post office, a Works Progress Administration project. President Franklin D. Roosevelt took a personal interest in the project, as he already had with new post offices in other Dutchess County communities. He wanted it to be built of

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

in the style of many

Dutch colonial Dutch Colonial is a style of domestic architecture, primarily characterized by gambrel roofs having curved eaves along the length of the house. Modern versions built in the early 20th century are more accurately referred to as "Dutch Colonial Rev ...

houses in the Hudson Valley, and chose the Brewer-Mesier House in the village as the model for its design. R. Stanley Miller, a local architect who had already designed the similar Rhinebeck post office, was assigned the job. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying five photographs''
/ref> In 1989, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It had already been a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the

Wappingers Falls Historic District The Wappingers Falls Historic District is in the center of that village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is a 90-acre (36 ha) area roughly centered along South Avenue and West Main Street, NY 9D and Wappinger Creek. It includes ...

, added to the Register five years earlier. The

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

has since had to move to a larger building a few blocks away on East Main. The village moved most of its functions here and built a new wing — clapboard, not stone, but otherwise consistent with the original design — on the rear of the building to house its police department.

Murals

The former post office, now serving as a police station, houses two murals by Henry Billings, commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. These murals depict different views of the town's waterfall, capturing distinct moments in time. The building's proximity to the actual waterfall makes it conveniently accessible. The murals are painted on chestnut panels and occupy the triangular space created by the pitched ceiling of the building. Positioned at opposite ends of the structure, the two views face each other. The 1780 mural draws inspiration from the diary of the Marquis de Chastellux, featuring a conversation between the Marquis and Peter Mesier, whose house served as the model for the post office building. The 1880 scene depicts the falls during their heyday as a significant source of industrial water power, drawing from an old painting."Living New Deal", Department of Geography, Univ. of California, Berkeley
/ref>

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Former post office buildings Village halls in the United States Works Progress Administration in New York (state) Government buildings completed in 1940 National Register of Historic Places in Dutchess County, New York Post office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in New York (state) Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt Colonial Revival architecture in New York (state) City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)

History

Murals

See also

References