For Sale: Napa's Historic Post Office Damaged In Quake

Photos from August 2014 earthquake in Napa credit Al Francis of NapaSonomaPhotos.com.

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The U.S. Postal Service has decided not to demolish the historic Franklin Station Post Office in downtown Napa that was damaged in last year’s 6.0-magnitude earthquake.

U.S. Rep, Mike Thompson, D-Napa, informed the city in a letter on Wednesday that the USPS intends to sell the building and property. The sale includes the stipulation that the buyer will repair the building to preserve its architectural integrity.

The building at 1351 Second St. is on the National Register of Historic Places.

“This is the right decision for the USPS and for Napa, and I am very pleased that Postmaster General (Megan) Brennan committed to working with me and our community to sell the building and property,” Thompson said in his letter. Thompson called the historic building one of the community’s “crown jewels.”

“It’s a beautiful part of our heritage and no one wanted to see it destroyed. By selling the post office, we can make sure this wonderful structure is around for many generations to come,” Thompson said.

The USPS will start the sale process in mid-August, nearly a year after the South Napa earthquake on Aug. 24. There also will be a public meeting to discuss where the new Napa post office will be located.

The sale of the historic building will be subject to competitive bidding. The USPS notified the city of Napa on June 26 that it intended to demolish the building, which was commissioned in 1933 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration that employed millions of out-of-work Americans.

--Bay City News