St. Mary’s Post Office & “St. Mary’s and the Industries of the Region”

The St. Mary’s Post Office was completed in 1937 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Little else is known about construction of the building. The style of the building mirrors other WPA projects through its simple one-story brick elevation. A wooden cupola or belvedere at the peak of the building helps provide some degree of vertical prominence. In the lobby of the post office is an oil on canvas mural titled “St. Mary’s and the Industries of the Region.” The work was created by Alexander B. Clayton, a frequent federal artist who primarily created portraits, in 1939. The piece includes depictions of several important industries to the town of St. Mary’s. On the left, two coal miners work to extract the fuel in a stereotypical mineshaft. Moving to the right, a woman herds sheep near baskets overflowing with fresh produce grown locally. A horse plowing a field further on the right indicates from where these items might have come. In the background is a river, likely the Kanawha River. This feature of the landscape was crucial for moving items produced near St. Mary’s to larger markets.

Lorance, Nancy. New Deal/WPA Art in Saint Marys, West Virginia, WPA Murals. Accessed July 7th 2021. http://wpamurals.org/stmarywv.htm.

Park, Marlene. Markowitz, Gerald E. Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Temple University Press, 1984.

Post Office Mural - St. Marys WV, The Living New Deal. Accessed July 7th 2021. https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/post-office-mural-st-marys-wv/.

Post Office - Saint Marys, The Living New Deal. Accessed July 7th 2021. https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/post-office-st-marys-wv/.

Saint Marys Post Office, New Deal Art Registry. Accessed July 7th 2021. https://www.newdealartregistry.org/map/SaintMarys/WV/.

Torr, Kathy. Alexander Clayton, AskArt. January 1st 2004. Accessed July 7th 2021. https://www.askart.com/artist/Alexander_Benjamin_Clayton/104189/Alexander_Benjamin_Clayton.aspx.