McAllen Post Office

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm passin' it along to you straight. Now, every good story needs a little context, so let me set the scene. The year is 1907, and the town of McAllen, Texas, gets itself a post office.

Simple enough. But here's the thing about McAllen. That town was growin', and growin' towns need more room.

So that post office didn't stay put. It moved. And moved again.

And kept right on movin'. By the time 1935 rolled around, they were huntin' down location number six. Six.

You hear me? The sixth home for that post office, and this time, they were done messin' around. They built something.

Something with a little dignity about it. A Spanish colonial revival structure, with a baroque frontispiece framing the front door, a corbelled cornice up top, and a red tile roof that practically glows in the South Texas sun. It was dedicated on January 22, 1936, and for the next twenty-some years, it did exactly what a post office is supposed to do.

Served the people. Then 1957 came, and the building's days as a postal facility came to a close. But here's where the story takes a turn that a lot of buildings never get.

Starting in 1958, those walls kept right on working. Federal offices. City offices.

A building that earned its keep through the mail, and then just kept on earnin' it. Six locations, one final home, and it's still standin' in McAllen today.

What the marker says

Built in 1935, this was the sixth location of the McAllen Post Office after its creation in 1907. The facility was dedicated on January 22, 1936, and served as a postal facility until 1957. Since 1958, the building has been used for a variety of purposes, including Federal and city office space. The Spanish colonial revival structure features a baroque frontispiece around the front door, corbelled cornice, and red tile roof. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1986.