Description of Historic Place

The Former Peterborough Post Office and Customs Building is located at 191-201 Charlotte Street in Peterborough’s downtown core. Facing north towards the street, the building is surrounded by commercial structures and parking lots. It is recognized for its heritage value by the City of Peterborough By-Law #05-191.

Heritage Value

The Former Peterborough Post Office and Customs Building was called “the most modern post office in Canada” at the time of its construction, and the building is representative of contemporary innovation in both architecture and technology. Designed to replace the old Post Office at Hunter and Water Streets, construction began on the new building in 1952. The grand opening of the new Post Office on June 27, 1955 was attended by the Hon. Robert Winters, Minister of Public Works, and the Deputy Post Master General, W.J. Turnbull. It also has excellent historic value as a representative of both the changing faces of technology, and the increasing public demand for new technology. The new facility was provided with top of the line equipment, including a high tech sorting machine imported from Holland, the Transorma, which was the first of its kind in Canada, and capable of sorting 15,000 pieces of mail per hour. The federal building was also outfitted with state-of-the-art closed circuit TV cameras to monitor employees anywhere in the building. The addition of the “snorkel”, a drive-through mail slot, was another ‘first’ in Canada
The Former Peterborough Post Office and Customs Building has significant architectural value as an excellent example of the Modern style. Constructed in the mid 1950’s, the building was designed to make use of new construction techniques such as curtain walls in order to create long bands of horizontal windows that span the building’s exterior.
Source: City of Peterborough Former Peterborough Post Office and Customs Building Heritage Designation Brief By-Law #05-191

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements of the Former Peterborough Post Office and Customs Building include:
- low, rectangular massing of the building and flat roof
- curtain wall concrete and reinforced steel construction clad in limestone
- continuous horizontal bands of windows on the curtain wall construction
- main entrance, including pink granite and stone vestibule, and steel frame glazing
- coat of arms on the west facade
- interior finishes of the stair wells and railings, including windows and glass within the stair wells