William Mitchell Kendall and the New York City Post Office, Completed 1914
Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • December 9, 2024
The James A. Farley Building (named in honor of the fifty-third postmaster general), originally New York City’s main US Post Office building, was built in the Beaux Arts style, and was meant to be reflective of the original Pennsylvania Station across the street. Its famous quote above the colonnade, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds,” was a quote from Herodotus added by William Mitchell Kendall who also worked on the design of the building. The annex, added roughly twenty years later, was also designed by the firm, and the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
JNLF
Recent Posts
October 1. {1857} No place that I have yet seen in Europe has interested me like Abbotsford; no palace has held such royalty. I sat down in the chair which Sir Walter Scott had occupied, and I almost felt his presence; his power I had known nearly all my life . . . . It was rather a sad visit as all such visits must be . . . I had half a mind to sit down and cry, perhaps because the “wizard” was dead, perhaps because I was a little homesick. This date marked the anniversary of Maria Mitchell’s comet discovery on October 1, 1847. At least one of Scott’s books exists in Maria’s personal library today – and I am sure there were more – handed about among family members, as well as available at the Nantucket Atheneum. This was truly an experience and education for Maria – touring through Europe. It was also the first time she had even been away from home for any length of time. She was entering into her third month away from her family and Nantucket – it must not have been easy. Keep in mind – no easy communication – letters only, do not forget. At least a voice at the other end of a phone line can help a bit when one is homesick. (Yeah, no, I’m not a Facetime/Skype kind of girl. I do “live” in the 19 th century!) JNLF
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.” -Edith Andrews
10mo 1, 1847. {October 1, 1847} This evening at half past ten Maria discovered a telescopic comet five degrees above Polaris. Persuaded that no nebulae could occupy that position unnoticed it scarcely needed the evidence of motion to give it the character of a comet. From the journals of William Mitchell, father of Maria. One hundred and seventy-nine years later! JNLF