Longtime Redding resident Larry Liebscher stops each day at the downtown post office on Yuba Street to pick up his mail. About a month ago, he began noticing chips of white surrounding the building. Old paint was being removed.
Soon thereafter, painting crews arrived, and a major exterior facelift was under way. The historic building’s first paint job since what’s believed to be the early ‘90s was completed this week.
“Visiting the post office every day during the renovation meant I could see day-to-day progress,” Liebscher said. “Frankly, things became more and more spectacular. The simplicity and elegance of electric blue against the white are absolutely dazzling.”
Al Valdivia, customer service manager at the Yuba Street post office, said the regional Postal Service facilities department looked at the building last year and agreed it needed some attention. Paint had peeled off, exposing the cement to the elements. Trees had grown up against the building, scraping it when the wind blew.
The original blue-gray paint on the trim had faded to where it was barely noticeable. “We’re in the original Redding area, and we were one of the worst-looking buildings,” Valdivia said.
A little history
Records provided by the Shasta Historical Society reveal the following:
Redding’s postal history dates back to 1872, when Shasta businessman Chauncey Bush was appointed the town’s first postmaster. Bush moved his store to the corner of Butte and California streets, and the post office was housed inside. He received an annual compensation of $12 for his mail duties.
Fire destroyed the first post office, and Bush rebuilt. In 1889, the office moved to Market Street downtown. In 1933, the Post Office Department of the U.S. bought the land between Yuba and Placer streets, west of the railroad tracks, to build the current facility.
Redding post office, 1938. Photo courtesy of the Shasta Historical Society.
In August 1935, in the midst of the Great Depression, bids opened for the construction of the new post office. Redding’s population at the time was 6,226. Dimwiddie Construction Co. of San Francisco was awarded the contract for $83,000. The building was designed by Louis Simon, presumably the same Louis Simon who worked as supervisory architect for the Treasury Department, Shasta County historian Dottie Smith said.
The post office in 1940. Photo courtesy of the Shasta Historical Society.
At that time, Redding had a postmaster, assistant postmaster, six clerks, three city carriers, and one rural free delivery carrier. Some 60 years later, the post office had more than 300 employees.
The downtown post office opened its doors in 1936. Until the Churn Creek Road facility opened in 1989, it was Redding’s only post office, Smith said.
Preserving the past
Valdivia noted that the lettering on the front of the building is original, as well as the repainted cylindrical light fixtures at the top of the stairs. The inside of the building has undergone renovation, and an addition was built as the city grew. About a year ago, window clerk Angela Ross framed some historic, black-and-white post office photos from the Shasta Historical Society and hung them in the lobby, the manager said.
Dodds Painting of Redding was awarded the contract to do this year’s refurbishment. It was Valdivia’s job to pick the colors. He selected a slightly off-white base and went with a darker, bolder blue for the trim than the previous color. “I thought it would make it stand out – kind of give it that historic look again,” he said. “It makes the details stand out, and you can tell it’s our (Postal Service blue) color, was my thinking.”
The post office’s new blue. Photos by Candace L. Brown.
Not everyone has been as enthusiastic about the new blue as Liebscher. “In the beginning I got a lot of criticism,” Valdivia said. “Now that it’s almost done, I’ve been getting more compliments.”
The efforts to honor the historical look and feel of the downtown icon have given Liebscher a new appreciation for it. “After all these years, going to the post office has become, suddenly, an interesting, historical experience,” he said.
Candace L. Brown has been a magazine and newspaper journalist since 1992, including eight years at the Redding Record Searchlight, where she reported on public safety, the environment and special projects. She can be reached at candace@snowcrest.net.
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