OLD POST OFFICE

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Title	OLD POST OFFICE
View	The main entrance, view of various finials
Notes	government
Work Type	post office
Style/Period	Richardsonian Gothic Revival Flemish Gothic
Creator Name	O'Rourke, Jeremiah
Creator Nationality	American
Date.Creator Birth	1833
Date.Creator Death	1915
Major Design Aspects	donut-shaped plan vast scale multiple window types
Elements & Spatial Types	light court attached clock tower multiple window types finial gargoyle
Climate Type	cold temperate
Country	United States of America
City	Buffalo
State/Province	NY
Location.Notes	Ellicott Street
Architectural Material	granite, tile (pink Vermont granite, Spanish tile)
Structural System	bearing masonry
Dates	1894
Century	19C
Photographer	Scott Gilchrist, Archivision
Subject Information	Following renovation in 1979, it has served as the downtown campus of Erie Community College. The Old Post Office features a tall central tower and an interior light court. The exterior is finished in pink granite. The roof is covered with Spanish tile set in concrete. With its tall square tower its many-crocketed spire, fierce gargoyles and glowering eagles, it is one of the most visible and familiar sights of downtown Buffalo. Of Flemish Gothic design and made of pink Vermont granite, the monumental former U.S. Post Office encompasses a whole city block. Regarded as having been inspired by H. H. Richardson's great Allegheny Country Courthouse in Pittsburgh, this building possesses a similar dominating tower and clearly defined pavilions on the exterior and a central light court surrounded by galleries on the inside. The Venetian palazzo-like interior space is one of the most impressive in the city. Exterior ornamentation includes an appropriate bison head, as well as an eagle up above the entrance door. The major entrance, which faces west on Ellicott Street, contains three deeply recessed arched openings. The projecting entrance is elaborately treated with gables, gallery, and piers. The center gable, capping the center entrance, is topped with a full sculpture of the American eagle. The rectangular 245'-high tower is on the front of the building (west facade) on Ellicott Street. Faced in granite, this tower features crockets, a hand-carved gargoyle, and engaged turrets on the corners. The Mansard roof, which has copper cresting along the top, is covered with tile and contains many pointed Gothic style dormers with decorative finials. In each dormer, two windows are contained within a Gothic arch decorated with quatrefoil ornamentation. Materials: Foundation: Granite-faced, Exterior - Pink granite from quarries at Spruce Heat and Jonesboro; The walls of granite ashlar masonry have a slightly rusticated treatment on the first floor and elevated basement; all other surfaces are finished with highly dressed granite; roofs: covered with Spanish green tile laid in concrete; interior - brick wainscoting; terra-cotta walls; marble; mosaic tile finishes; principal office rooms and court rooms finished in Mexican mahogany; all other rooms finished in quartered, polished oak. The interior framing system is composed of steel beams. The three deeply recessed entrances are contained within projecting porches. Stone stairs extend beyond the enclosure of the porches. By relieving the mass of the block-square building by slightly projecting corner pavilions, the architects have reduced the Gothic revival decorative treatment to a surface exercise. Source: http://ah.bfn.org/a/ellicott/121/eccext/index.html
Credit Line	Archivision Inc. (all images copyright Scott Gilchrist / Archivision.com)
Collection Title	Archivision (architecture, urban design, gardens, landscapes and public art)
Collection information	Collection administered by the Visual Resources manager, Architecture Library, (402) 472-1193

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