Many residents may have noticed the construction at the Post Office in Madill the last couple of weeks. To many, this may seem like a trivial maintenance procedure. However, as a monumental building, it is a paramount preservation.
The Madill Post Office was originally constructed 1938 and 1939 and is now a living legacy of the Works Progress Administration funding work program which was a part of the “New Deal Agency” of the Treasury department.
The building design and engineering was a major monument but the Federal Treasury department also included a department of Fine Arts which played a part in creating the mural inside the main lobby on the west wall. The Tempera Mural was created by Ethel Magafan and is titled “Prairie Fire.” The artwork was originally placed in the lobby in 1941 and is a part of a vast time period appropriate collection.
To bring things into perspective, The WPA was created by President Roosevelt in 1935 in the middle of the Depression in an effort to put Americans back to work and encourage an economy close to pre-depression. The program ended about the beginning of WWII according to History.com. The original construction was performed by Lundberg – Ritcher Co. of Madill and overseen by Construction Engineer J. Paul Coony.
In the search for original pictures and pertinent information, fortune smiled and placed Ralynn Moiser the Postmaster in the research path. Moiser is not only a wealth of information but has much enthusiasm about the building.
She is currently working on preserving and displaying some of the original construction pictures in her office. Moiser said even though the basement was used on a regular basis in the past, that is not currently the case.
“They don’t really allow people see the basement for liability reasons, but it was originally used as county offices and storm shelter,” Moiser said.
The basement was often trashed out and eventually ceased being a storm shelter. Some of the offices still have the original occupant’s name placards on the doors.
The new roof and intricate metal work is being performed by Jeff Eubank Roofing co., Inc. out of Fort Worth, Texas. Construction Superintendent David Stewart said the work to the roof was crucial, but the difficulty was keeping the retro look.
“The roof was definitely needed and that he was restoring the original look as close as possible with modern materials,” Stewart said. “The original copper guttering will be replaced with new solid copper and the two original copper cupolas will remain.”
Stewart noted how many new roofs the post office had received since being built.
“At least two plus the original cedar shakes,” Stewart said. “The new composition roof is rated to last fifty years but the new shiny copper will last a hundred years and will begin to tarnish in a few weeks.”
The old glorious building has not only delivered the mail, it has also stood as a monument and representation of our great country, our outstanding artistic culture, and delivered news and heartfelt stories of WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf, and Iraq. The Madill Library is home to a wonderful book full of original hand written letters from a soldier of WWII mailed back home to Marshall County.
Much could be said about the stories, information and importance of the Madill post office but one merely needs encouragement to drive by or drop in and take a look at the grandeur and realize that there is an authentic piece of American History right here in Madill Oklahoma.
Many may wonder how they might help preserve such an amazing piece of history. The most straight forward answer is to either go up the steps and buy a stamp or even a page of stamps – many are beautiful enough to be a wonderful addition to a stamp collection.
Many do not realize that the US Postal service is self financed primarily through the sale of stamps. Let’s not merely keep our wonderful Post Office alive, let’s make it thrive. After all it does deliver!