U.S. Post Office, City Hall Park, New York
Publisher Currier & Ives American
Related artchited Alfred B. Mullett American, born England
Not on view
This New York view centers on a large Empire style building at the southern tip of City Hall Park. The site for a new Post Office was chosen in 1867 but the elaborate mansard-roofed building completed only in 1878. A competition produced no winner, so a committee headed by A. B. Mullet designed the structure which was nicknamed "Mullet's monstrosity." It was demolished in 1938 as part of redesign efforts at City Hall Park in relation to the 1939 World's Fair.
The New York firm of Currier & Ives grew from a printing business established by Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888) in 1835. Expansion led, in 1857, to a partnership with James Merritt Ives (1824–1895). The firm operated until 1907, lithographing over 4,000 subjects for distribution across America and Europe with popular categories including landscape, marines, natural history, genre, caricatures, portraits, history and foreign views. Until the 1880s, images were printed in monochrome, then hand-colored by women who worked for the company.
