Photograph of 101 E. Oak taken from the road. Photo was taken for the Historic Resources Survey of Palestine, Texas 1989-1991. This building was designed by James Knox Taylor of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Supervising Architect. It was built in 1907, on land purchased by the federal government from St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church and Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Hicks. The new post office replaced older facilities which had occupied various locations through out the city since the mid-1800’s. In 1964, a new post office was built several blocks to the north and this facility was converted into a Federal Building to house a number of general federal offices.
In 1987 the building was declared surplus to the government’s needs and in 1989 the government transferred the building to Anderson County for use as county offices. The building still houses county offices and also is the home of the Anderson County Historical Commission.
This building is one of only two local institutional buildings with Renaissance Revival detailing; the other is the old Carnegie Library building. This architectural expression gained only marginal popularity throughout Texas, making the old Post Office in Palestine a rare example of the style. When completed in 1907, the Post Office immediately became a prominent architectural landmark in the community. The Post Office’s unique physical character is further bolstered by its placement as a detached building in the downtown; the building literally stands apart from the almost continuous series of row commercial properties in Palestine’s central business district.
Taken from: Historic Resources Survey of Palestine, Texas: An Inventory for The City of Palestine, Volume IV, Color Slides, June 1991