Las Vegas Downtown Post Office
Architect(s): James A. Wetmore
Address: 301 E. Stewart Ave.
Year: 1931-3

Once the most elaborate building in Las Vegas, the Beaux-Arts classical styling of the post office reflected the taste of the Treasury Department's architects of the 1890s and 1900s. Through its architecture, the three-story, steel-frame building, clad in brick and terracotta, signified its importance as a federal building among a sea of bars and hotels . The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and City of Las Vegas officials have proposed converting the building into a museum or cultural center.

May 2-31, 2005 The downtown post office was transformed and open to the public to highlight the cultural aspects of the Centennial. Guests were able to tour and enjoy it for the last time before the doors closed for a major renovation into a downtown cultural center.

Renovation report (architectural history p. 75 of 212 pages): http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/files/ThePostConsultantReport.pdf

Resources available in the ASL:
Nicoletta, Julie. Buildings of Nevada . New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Includes project description.

Squires, Michael. “City Wants Early Possession of Historic Post Office.” Las Vegas Review-Journal , 4 August 2003. ASL File #: LVA(F) JW 1

UNLV Architecture Studies Library holds: National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form for Federal Properties. ASL File #: LVA(F) JW 2

UNLV Architecture Studies Library holds: National Register of Historic Multiple Property Documentation Form. ASL File #: LVA(F) JW 3

Information and image(s) also available on ASL's self guided architectural driving tours:

http://www.library.unlv.edu/arch/lasvegas/downtown01a.html#003

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