Post Office Art in Oregon

Click on the picture for full screen

US Post Office, Ontario, OR

It's not surprising that the mural in Ontario, Oregon shows a scene from The Oregon Trail. Ontario is the last city along the Snake River you pass through going west on Interstate 84. From here the trail and the highway cut northwest to the Columbia River west of the Blue Mountains.

The artist is Edmund J. Fitzgerald who is also represented in Preston, Idaho.

Trail to Oregon, Edmund J. Fitzgerald, 1938

Ontario is small with an historic downtown area so the post office was easy to find. The same cannot be said for the one in St. John, once its own city but now absorbed into Portland. In fact the original New Deal post office building has been sold to the Baha'i Church and replaced by a modern building. Of course, the employees in the new building had no idea where the old building was, nor did a women I met on the street. Fortunately, I'm getting good at spotting these buildings so a brief walk in the old downtown area lead me to the right spot.

By happy coincidence, my I arrived while members of the St. John Historical society were on hand as well as a representative of the church. All are working to keep the murals inside in good condition and open to the public.

Development of St. John's John Ballator assisted by Eric LaMade and Louis DeMott Bruce,1936

While it's nice that the old globe style lighting has been retained, it made it necessary to take photos from several angles to get a decent representation.

This is actually two separate murals on facing walls at either end of a long lobby.

There is also some well presented information about the paintings and the artists.