Description of Historic Place

The Rosthern Post Office is a Municipal Heritage Property located in the Town of Rosthern. The building is situated on a residential street adjacent to the town’s main street. The 1928 Post Office is a flat-roof, two-storey structure designed in the Stripped Classical style. It is faced with tapestry brick and detailed with Tyndall limestone.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Rosthern Post Office is associated with its long-time use as a public building in the community. Since its construction in 1928 the Rosthern Post Office has continuously served its original and intended post office function. Initially, the building also housed federal government offices on the second floor and was known alternatively as the Rosthern Federal Building or Government of Canada Building. At the time, the federal offices included the Outport of Rosthern, a Customs office (port) that was first established in Rosthern in 1911. When the Customs service was removed from Rosthern at the end of the 1920s, other federal entities, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (R.C.M.P.), occupied the space. Additionally, the second floor has served as residential quarters for the R.C.M.P. and postmaster, and space for the Royal Canadian Legion. The cornerstone was laid by William Lyon Mackenzie King, Member of Parliament for the area and Prime Minister of Canada at the time of construction. The building was retained by the federal government until 1996, when it was purchased by the Town of Rosthern.

The heritage value of the Rosthern Post Office also lies in its architecture, being an example of the Stripped Classical style. This style was popular with the federal government in the 1920s and 1930s for smaller-scale buildings, combining dignity with economy and efficiency. The building combines the basic elements of classical design such as balance and symmetry with simplified classical detailing, including a roofline cornice and a handsome Tyndall limestone doorway surround with entablature and pilasters. The brown-coloured tapestry brick cladding is decoratively laid to form window casings and basket-weave frieze. The architectural merit of the building makes it one of the most substantial and attractive buildings in the community and, thereby, a community landmark.

Source:

Town of Rosthern Bylaw No. 9003.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Rosthern Post Office resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements which speak to the Stripped Classicial style of the building, such as its two-storey, symmetrical, flat-roof form, roof elements such as the curved parapets and sheet-metal roofline cornice, its masonry construction with brown-coloured tapestry brick cladding decoratively laid to form window casings and a basket-weave frieze, Tyndall limestone detailing comprising the window sills and the classical style main doorway surround with pilasters and a bracketed entablature, cornerstone, and terrazzo lobby flooring;
-those elements which speak to public use of the property, such as it location on its original site, the cornerstone, and signplate.