A WPA-era post office building that turns dropping off a package into a trip into California’s mission past

Added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 11, 1985

I never thought that I would be the kind of person to willingly visit a post office with no intention of buying stamps or sending a package. But there I was last Friday afternoon, totally gobsmacked by the beauty of this 1938 postal hall. 

It was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, an architect well known for the many lodges he built in our national parks (e.g. The Ahwahnee in Yosemite, Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone & Grand Canyon Lodge), plus a lot of depots for the Union Pacific Railroad. Underwood was a stylistic shapeshifter, a pioneer of “rustic architecture” who could craft mammoth temples of logs and rocks, then turn around and create an art deco masterpiece like Omaha’s Union Station. 

The post office flexes yet another facet of Underwood’s imagination, a simple rectangular structure that recalls California’s mission past; its simple cream-colored walls and exposed beams echo the 19th century adobes that are all over California. The art that festoons the walls is a curious combination of retro Mexican painted tiles and WPA-era murals by Barse Miller, very pro-labor, extolling the local aircraft industry. You can totally tell that this was built in the ‘30s.

On November 11, 2003, the US government enacted a law that formally designated this post office as the “Bob Hope Post Office Building” – just five days after the Burbank Airport was officially renamed to honor Hope. I’ve read that he owned a private plane that he kept at the Burbank Airport. No idea if he ever sent mail from the Downtown Burbank Post Office. 

SO: If ever you find yourself in downtown Burbank, trying to pass the time between buying new placemats at Ikea and meeting your actor pal for a drink at Yard House, Gordon Biersch, BJ’s or any number of the chains beereries that choke Burbank’s commercial corridor, you could do a whole lot worse than exploring some primo civic architecture! Just wait ‘til you see Burbank City Hall (post #42)…

Recommended Reading

+Downtown Burbank Post Office @ NRHP website

+Brief history of the Post Office @ Finding History