Proud Post Office

My husband, former mayor of Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida, Bruce Malcolm, and I were pleased to attend the recent historical marker dedication of the 1912 Post Office-Customs House-Courthouse in our city.  This important event was sponsored by the Princess Amelia Chapter, Colonial Dames XVII Century.  After being on the Fernandina Historical District

FL State Senator Aaron Bean speaking

Council for over ten years,  saving the beautiful building was one of Bruce’s goals.  Finally, we were both thrilled to see the workman resurface the exterior with all its detail.   So here is a huge thank you to each person who contributed to this worthwhile project in  any fashion.  The post office is one of the anchor buildings on our Centre Street and so important to our city’s heritage. 

 

Read the inscription on the marker below:

 

The Old Post Office 1912

 

U.S. Post Office-Customs House-Courthouse.  Dedicated in 1912, this Italian Renaissance Revival building was designed under the direction of Treasury Department architect James Knox Taylor.  The interior was custom build to accommodate the building’s three original function as a U.S. Customs House, Courthouse, and Post Office.  The building features a symmetrical facade, uniformly-arched windows and doors with terra cotta accents, second floor windows with gabled pediments, decorative balustrades, and small square windows on the top floor.  Brick walls faced with stucco rise from a granite base three stories to a tiled,, hipped roof with widely extending eaves supported by decorative brackets.  The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida met here until the creation of the Middle District in 1962.  The building was then used by the Middle District until divisional judicial functions were consolidated in Jacksonville.  The building is a notable feature of the city’s urban landscape and it the second tallest structure exceeded only by the Nassau County Courthouse’s clock tower.  In 1973, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing resource in the Fernandina Beach Historic District. 

 

A Florida Heritage Site sponsored by the Princess Amelia Chapter National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century and the Florida Department of State.

2017