Description of Historic Place

Old Grand Falls Post Office in Grand Falls is a 2-storey red-brick building in the Romanesque Revival style located on the corner of Court and Sheriff Streets in Grand Falls.

Heritage Value

Old Grand Falls Post Office is designated a Local Historic Place for its architecture and for reflecting the presence of the federal government in a small town.

Old Grand Falls Post Office is a good example of the post offices built in the small towns of Canada between 1880 and 1920. It is a red-brick building in the Romanesque Revival style that was designed by the Department of Public Works of Canada under the direction of chief architect David Ewart. Like the other post offices built during this period, Old Grand Falls Post Office was meant to be an emblem of the presence of the federal government in small municipalities. The building opened in 1911 and, at that time, housed the post office on the ground floor and the customs office on the upper floor.

Old Grand Falls Post Office also has value in its later use by the municipality. The building housed the town hall from around 1960 to 1998 and the Grand Falls Museum until quite recently.

Source: Town of Grand Falls, Site File No. 03.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe this building include:
- red brick veneer;
- mansard roof covered in galvanized steel;
- high clock tower located on the most dominant corner, anchoring the building on the site and making it more visible;
- Roman arch sash windows on the ground floor and rectangular sash windows on the upper floor;
- Beaux-Arts style cornices that create a series of receding lines at different heights.