Existing comment:
Bulletins about the...
Post Office:
Several old frame buildings on Main Street, dating to the Civil War and including Hillsinger Undertakers, were purchased in 1937 for $20,000 and razed to construct the Ellicott City Post Office. Built in the Greek revival style, the granite building was dedicated on December 7, 1940 exactly one year before Pearl Harbor. Postal services continued here until September 21, 2008 when offices were consolidated to a newer, more modern facility located just west of town.
With news of the pending consolidation, Howard County Government expressed an interest in purchasing the building to create a new, more inviting Howard County Welcome Center for the Office of Tourism which had been operating in the lower level of the building since 1996. With the help of legislation and funding from the State of Maryland, the County acquired the building in 20089 with renovations began in 2011.
Important to the design of the new Center was both the retention of the look and feel of the original post office as well as the creation of a more updated, accessible and visual experience for visitors. Several re-purposed items from the old post office were incorporated into the decorative elements of the Welcome Center. The original teller windows still welcome visitors in the front lobby. Richly veined dark green marble from the original lobby wall now surrounds the central information desk as a counter. The iconic gold P.O. boxes are backlit and displayed on the side walls of the post office's original vault.
Perhaps the most interesting architectural detail of the building, left in tact [sic], are the horizontal "observation" window slots found near the ceiling of the original interior walls. Behind these windows run a hidden passageway, accessible from another part of the building. Postal inspectors could secretly enter the passage for security purposes and covertly observe employees working below. Similar passages can be found in other post office buildings of the same era. |