Newcastle's post office: Part II

Hannah Gross
NLJ Correspondent
With Leonard Cash
 
Last week, historian Leonard Cash left off his review of post office building sites with the potential building of a post office on the government-owned site where the building currently sits. This week, that discussion continues, but before jumping back into it, Cash had a News Letter Journal article from Jan. 14, 1932, that reported changes in the postal service that would hopefully “give the public better postal service.” 
Postmaster Edna Jessen announced a new schedule. The lobby was to be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, while the general delivery and other windows were to open at 8 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. Post office windows were to be closed on Sundays and holidays, and lobby hours were shortened to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The article added that the post office was requesting public cooperation to help keep the lobby clean. 
“This cooperation will mean a continuance of the longer daily schedule and better service to the public,” the article says. 
Another article from the same issue titled “New Postoffice Contract Not Let” described a standstill in the post office project. The supervising architect in Washington, D.C., had received multiple bids for the project, but the contract wasn’t let because of what Cash described as indecision regarding what materials to use. The article says that limestone was originally to be used, but then that decision was retracted. 
“Awarding of the contract is being held up until a definite decision on the type of construction to be used has been reached,” the article says. 
Another reason the contract was not let was because the bids were all too high, according to the Jan. 28, 1932, issue, so a call for new bids was to be made soon. 
“The department is willing to award the contract to one bidder provided he will reduce his bid by $5,700,” the article says. 
But this would likely not work for the bidders, so “in that case it will be necessary for plans to be amended and new bids asked for,” according to U.S. Sen. Robert D. Carey, as reported in the article. This would delay the process for a few months. 
Nonetheless, the Feb. 11, 1932, issue announced that a telegram calling for new bid proposals in two weeks had been received from Congressman Vincent Carter.
“Some time was spent in communication with contractors who bid in an effort to get the amount submitted within the estimate but these new bids on revised plans will be asked,” the article says. 
Original bidders were asked to bid lower, reported an article from Mar. 17, 1932. N.A. Pearson, who was one of the low bidders, interviewed with the News Letter and advised the Lions Club on the practicality of their request to use native sandstone. 
“While further insistence on the use of native sandstone for the exterior of the building was justified by the quality of the stone and in all other respects that such insistence might lead to further delay and should be carefully weighed before further action is taken in that direction,” Pearson is reported to have said. 
He noted that government building inspectors are “decidedly strict as to the quality of stone used, that it must match perfectly in color,” so twice the amount of stone needed for the building would have to be secured from the quarry in order to meet these expectations. However, Pearson “paid high compliment to Weston County’s native sandstone” and never saw “more beautiful stone.”
The new bids were to be opened on April 21, 1932, at 3 p.m., according to the Apr. 7, 1932, paper. Original bidders had to “submit a supplementary proposal to be considered with their original proposal, for miscellaneous changes in the construction.” 
At the end of the month, on April 28, 1932, it was reported that Phelps-Drake Co. Inc. of Minneapolis won the bid with a contract priced “slightly over $53,000.” An article from May 12, 1932, verified this report. 
According to the May 19, 1932, News Letter, the contract for Phelps-Drake Co. started on May 13, 1933, and it had 360 calendar days to complete the project. Their original bid of $62,700 had been reduced by $8,200 to $54,500.
“Changes in construction to be permitted under the lower figure are specified as changes in ceiling and roof construction and are understood locally to include a composition roof instead of a slate roof and the substitution of other metal for copper in skylight and sheet metal work,” the article says. 
The contractor said work would be delayed until late June because they were waiting for government approval on the materials. 
Ira Baldwin secured the subcontract for the excavating work on the post office, and his son “Bill” Baldwin would work beside his father after resigning from the News Letter Publishing Co., reported the June 2, 1932, paper. The “assembly of equipment” had already started, but “actual work” was to begin later. 
Around June 16, 1932, Assistant Postmaster Val Jessen, accompanied by Newcastle High School graduate Martha Koski, went to the annual convention of Wyoming postmasters in Cheyenne. Koski was enrolled in Cheyenne Business College.
The obituary for Jessen’s father was recorded in the July 7, 1932, News Letter. James Emerson Brown died at the age of 77 in his Lusk home due to “failing health.” His funeral was in Jessen’s home, with services officiated by the Rev. Ralph Snyder of First United Methodist Church. 
Brown was born in West Oxford, Ontario, Canada on Sept. 6, 1854, and married Sara A. Nunn on Mar. 21, 1877. They had five other children in addition to Jessen (although one died as an infant) and 11 grandchildren. They lived on a ranch in Newcastle from 1910 to 1928 before moving to Lusk. Brown is buried in Newcastle.
According to the July 9, 1931, issue, the project was getting closer to initiation when the city received an application for a permit from the U.S. Treasury “to connect with the city sanitary sewerage system, area drains and sub soil drains.” 
The pouring of concrete in the basement and the foundation walls was expected to be completed within several days, reported the Sept. 1, 1932, edition of the paper. Additionally, Newcastle Lodge No. 13 A.F. & A.M. was making plans for the laying of the cornerstone ceremony after receiving permission from Perry K. Heath, assistant secretary of the treasury. 
However, in a later article titled “No Special Ceremony Will Mark Laying of New P.O. Cornerstone,” the Masons dropped their plans after hearing that the government “would not permit any inscription on the stone other than the standard form designated for postoffice buildings.”
The main-floor concrete was scheduled to be poured within the week, and another area was being graded so that the sidewalks could be laid. Sidewalls would be up soon, and it was hoped that work on the roof would begin the following month. 
The News Letter reported on Oct. 6, 1932, that the cornerstone was finally laid on Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. by Postmaster Jessen and L.A. Postl, the construction superintendent. It “was made possible by the farsightedness of our fellow townsman Hon. Frank W. Mondell.” 
Debriefing, the article said that Congress made the appropriation in 1930 for $60,000, which was “namely” secured by U.S. Sens. John B. Kendrick, Pat Sullivan and Vincent Carter. Because it was a government-owned site, “Newcastle was one of the few towns in Wyoming, that was allocated a building.” 
Names of the post office officials and personnel; state, county and city officials; contractors, subcontractors, superintendent and workmen; churches and pastors; were put into the cornerstone, along with the Sept 22, 1932, issue of the News Letter, a statement from First State Bank, postal savings depository and the first commission issued by Jessen. These efforts were credited to Assistant Postmaster Valdemar Jessen. 
“This building is dedicated for the convenience and service to the public, through the local postoffice,” the article says.