Post Office, Bristol, Conn. 83.

Post Office, Bristol, Conn. 83.

Image of a grand, Neo-Classical building. Pedestrians cross the street over trolley lines and beneath overhead cables. This image is part of a series made by one of the three Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company photographers assigned to cover New England or upstate New York. The quest for images that would be saleable as postcards resulted in the documentation of small towns and small town life at the turn of the 20th century. As the photos were shot, the glass plates were promptly sent back to Belfast, Maine, and processed into postcards at the printing plant on High Street. Built in 1912, the Post Office in Bristol was typical of federal buildings put up in urban areas during the early years of the 20th century. With its grand scale, and sober application of classical columns aligned along the front of a raised, recessed porch, the stone structure exudes civic pride, security, and permanence. The architect is not known, but the way the classical elements are assembled here is reminiscent of many great institutional edifices designed during the early 20th century by the reknowned architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White.