Description of Historic Place

The Post Office is a Municipal Heritage Property which occupies ten city lots on the corner of Main Street and 6th Avenue in the City of Humboldt. The property features a two-storey, brick-and-stone building with projecting clock tower, constructed in 1911.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Humboldt Post Office lies in its architecture. Constructed in 1911, the Humboldt Post Office exemplifies the Romanesque Revival style public buildings which were designed by the federal Department of Public Works in the early decades of the twentieth century. Designed by the chief architect, David Ewart, the distinctive Romanesque Revival style buildings led to the creation of a large group of recognizably similar buildings which were variants on a common theme rather than identical structures shaped from a single standard plan. The Humboldt Post Office is similar to the post offices in Battleford and Melfort and together the three are the only surviving post office of this type in the Prairie Provinces. These public buildings symbolized the federal government’s presence in smaller prairie communities such as Humboldt. Situated on the corner of Main Street and Franklin Avenue (now 6th Avenue) the Post Office is one of the oldest structures in Humboldt and stands as a landmark in the community.

Source:

Town of Humboldt Bylaw No 20/84.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Humboldt Post Office resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements reflecting the Romanesque Revival style, including the rounded arch window and doorway openings, rough-faced masonry trim, the mansard roof with dormers and rusticated stone base;
-those elements that reflect the use of the property as a government facility, including the capped clock tower and clock faces;
-the siting of the building on its original prominent location at the corner of Main Street and 6th Avenue.