U.S. Post Office - Los Angeles Terminal Annex

Infobox_nrhp | name =US Post Office
Los Angeles Terminal Annex
nrhp_type =

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caption = Terminal Annex in 2008
location= 900 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles, California
lat_degrees = 34
lat_minutes = 3
lat_seconds = 36
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 118
long_minutes = 14
long_seconds = 7
long_direction = W
locmapin = California
area =
built =1940
architect= Gilbert Stanley Underwood
architecture= Mission/Spanish Revival
added = January 11 1985
governing_body = U.S. Postal Service
mpsub=US Post Office in California 1900-1941 TR
refnum=85000131cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service] The U.S. Post Office - Los Angeles Terminal Annex was the central mail processing facility located on Alameda Steet near Union Station in Los Angeles, California from 1940 to 1989. The Mission Revival building designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Construction and opening

Designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, the Terminal Annex was built by the Sarver & Zoss contracting firm from 1939 to 1940. The building was built for the purpose of processing all incoming and outgoing mail in Los Angeles. Though its purpose was principally utilitarian, Underwood sought to keep the building's design in keeping with the city's Union Station, which opened across the street in May 1939. The original building was a three-story structure with two towers and convert|400000|sqft|m2 of floor space. [cite news|title=Postoffice Annex Costing $2,000,000 Making Progress|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1939-05-15] [cite news|title=Near Union Station|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1939-12-10]

The $3 million postal annex opened in May 1940 with 1,632 postal clerks, carriers and laborers responsible for the processing of 2,000,000 pieces of mail per day.cite news|title=New Postal Annex Opens: Washington Officials Inspect $3,000,000 Structure|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1940-05-28] The facility, which was kept open 24 hours a day, was equipped with the latest facilities for rapid handling of mail, including conveyors, chutes, weighing machines, cancelling machines, and sorting and facing tables. At the time of its opening, it was considered "the most modern and efficient" post office in the nation.cite news|title=Opening of New Postoffice Set: Operation of New Terminal Annex to Begin at 8 a.m. Tomorrow|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1940-05-26] At the formal dedication ceremony in June 1940, the postmaster called the annex a symbol of the achievements of democracy, opening at a time when the monuments of Europe were "being ground in the dust." [cite news|title=Postal Annex Dedicated: Building Called Finest of Type in Country; 500 Attended Observance|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1940-06-23]

Expansion to meet increased volume

Only ten years after its opening, the demands of the city's mail had already outgrown the facility. Accordingly, the Post Office announced plans in 1950 for a $12 million expansion, including an adjoining five-story parcel post building and other structures as well. [cite news|title=Postal Annex Expansion to Cost $12,000,000: Government Buys Five Acres of Land for Parcel Post and Other Buildings|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1950-02-14]

candals and tragedies

During nearly 50 years as the city's central postal processing facility, the Terminal Annex suffered a number of scandals and tragedies, including the following:
*In 1954, two veteran postal employees were charged with being the ringleaders of two large bookmaking operations operating out of the Terminal Annex. Investigators alleged that 10-15 other employees were involved in the operations. [cite news|title=Post Office Suspends Two as Bookmakers: Veteran Mail Clerks Accused as Ringleaders With 10 or 15 More Working for Them|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1954-01-25]
*In 1970, a postal supervisor was shot and killed at the Terminal Annex by a disgruntled postal clerk. After the supervisor ordered the clerk to leave work for intoxication, the clerk waited outside the annex and shot the supervisor in the back three times as the supervisor ran toward the security desk, calling for help. [cite news|title=Post Office Supervisor Shot to Death; Co-Worker Arrested|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1970-08-14]
*In 1978, a pipe bomb, wrapped in a package, exploded in a sorting room at the Terminal Annex, slightly injuring six postal workers. [cite news|title=Bomb in Parcel Explodes at Post Office, Injures Six|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1978-02-03]
*In 1985, a malfuctioning voltage line in the basement of the Terminal Annex caused an 8-1/2 hour power blackout that halted operations at the facility. The power outage resulted in a one-day delay in the delivery of 1.5 million pieces of mail and was front-page news in the "Los Angeles Times".cite news|author=George Ramos|title=1.5 Million Pieces of Mail Undelivered in Power Loss: Delivery Promised Saturday|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1985-05-24]
*In 1986, 12 postal workers employed at the Terminal Annex were charged as alleged pushers of both powder and rock cocaine. [cite news|title=12 Named as Cocaine Pushers After 5-Month Probe at L.A. Post Office|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1986-06-27]

Insufficient space leads to construction of South-Central facility

By the 1980s, the operations had outgrown even the expanded facilities at the Terminal Annex. The facility's volume had grown by the mid-1980s to 14 million pieces of mail per day, [cite news|author=Leo F. Buscaglia|title=Living and Loving: Sending a Love Letter to the Post Office|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1985-05-12] and the annex was plagued by inadequate space, overcrowding and inadequate work areas. [cite news|author=George Ramos|title=Terminal Annex Power Blackout Delays L.A. Mail|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1985-05-25] Accordingly, the Postal Service Board of Governors in 1984 approved the construction of a new $151 million general post office in South-Central Los Angeles. Almost 50 years after Terminal Annex became the city's main mail-processing facility, the new processing facility in South Central opened in 1989. Despite the move of the processing facility, the customer service windows in the Terminal Annex's ornate lobby remained open until 1995, when the facility was closed.

Filming locations

When the Postal Service moved out of the building in 1995, it was used as a film location for the motion picture "Dear God" in 1995 and for the CBS television series "EZ Streets" in 1996. Producers used the lobby, decorated with WPA murals, to represent City Hall. [cite news|author=Bob Pool|title=The Mail Lead: Terminal Annex Becomes the Backdrop for a TV Series|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1996-10-14]

It was also turned into a hospital, complete with an emergency room entrance, for the movie "City of Angels."

Historic designation

The Terminal Annex building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 based on its architectural style. [cite news|title=2 Post Office Buildings Declared Landmarks|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1985-05-14]

ee also

*List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles

References