History:  Construction began on a portion of the building in 1935 as the Federal post office for Salem at a cost of $310,000.  It was dedicated on October 16, 1937 as one of only two marble post office buildings west of the Mississippi River – the other one was in Denver, CO.  It remained as the main post office until they outgrew the space and the central post office moved to 25th Street in 1976.  Shortly after, the Department of General Services purchased, expanded, and renovated it into an office building for the Executive Department in 1979.  At the time the building was the post office, it was about half the size it is now.  It only included the Church Street side to about the middle of the building near the elevators.  The renovation added the other half of the building on the Cottage Street side and the parking structure.  In fact, that is why the floors don’t line up and the elevators have two sides – one side of the elevator is the original building and the other side is the expansion.  Also, the original building had a large lobby with murals that is now conference rooms A & B.  The renovation project took great pains to ensure the murals and molding of the original building were preserved, as well as some of the integrity of the original lobby.  The windows of those conference rooms also originally had bars on them, like you would a bank or other secured facility.  The architect for the renovation project was the Salem firm Payne, Settecase, Smith, and Doss.    

 

Sources:   State Architect, http://www.salemhistory.net/places/post_office.htm