Photo for March 2004
Elmira Post Office
early 1900s post card

ow we come upon the Elmira Post Office Building at Church and State. The US Mail was sorted, filed, and sent out for delivery from this facility for most of the 20th century.

The Elmira Post Office officially opened its doors at this location on September 13, 1903, when, according to the Chemung County Historical Society, Postmaster David M. Pratt "personally hoisted the American flag." The office was transferred from its old location at the Masonic Temple on Lake Street to this new structure. The new building featured an impressive architecture that included lobby walls of Vermont marble, oak woodwork and a marble staircase. The building cost what was a small fortune in the early 1900s - $257,000.

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