Ripley Post Office & “The Pride of Jackson County”

The Ripley Post Office was constructed in 1940, making it a rather late Works Progress Administration (WPA) structure. In many ways, the building resembles other WPA post offices through the Colonial Revival style, gabled roof, and rectangular brick construction. However, this building also has several notable differences. The entrance to the building is on the long side of the building, which in itself is not strange, but becomes strange when the gabled roof is taken into consideration. It was more common for the entrance to be on the short side of gabled roof post office buildings. Perhaps this design choice was necessitated by the layout of the structure; there are two chimneys, one on each end of the building. These chimneys are also atypical of WPA post offices which typically feature no elements piercing the roof. A final divergent feature of the Ripley Post Office is a dentilled cornice at the edge of the roof when a plain unornamented cornice is standard.

The interior of the Ripley Post Office features a wooden sculpture by Joseph Servas. The bas relief was installed in 1942 and measures roughly four feet by four feet. Little information is available about the artist or this work, which is titled “The Pride of Jackson County.” It depicts a farmer petting a cow. In the background is a large wooden structure of unknown use. The title and subject of the piece is perhaps an homage to Jackson County’s agrarian past.

Gioulis, Michael. Ripley Historic District, National Register of Historic Places. January 30th 2004. Accessed July 3rd 2021. http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jackson/04000919.pdf.

Lorance, Nancy. New Deal/WPA Art in Ripley, West Virginia, WPA Murals. Accessed July 3rd 2021. http://wpamurals.org/ripleywv.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 Relief - Ripley WV, The Living New Deal. Accessed July 3rd 2021. https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/post-office-relief-ripley-wv/.

Post Office - Ripley WV, The Living New Deal. Accessed July 3rd 2021. https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/post-office-ripley-wv/.

Ripley Post Office, New Deal Art Registry. Accessed July 3rd 2021. https://www.newdealartregistry.org/map/Ripley/WV/.