Historic Facts

Downtown Winston-Salem Post Office

and

Federal Building

In 1916 the Georgian Decoration was removed from the first federal building. The structure was split in half and the collonaded center section was built connecting the two halves of the original building. The result was this handsome Beaux Arts Classical Building which we know as the Millennium Center today.

Winston and Salem began their consolidation long before the official May 1913 date. On July 1, 1899 their respective post offices were consolidated with the postmark ‘Winston-Salem’ A new post office was built in 1908 and used until 1914 when the building was enlarged. The part of the building in the foreground is the original framework. Changes and additions have followed during the years. The post office is now the Millennium Center on West Fifth Street.

For half a century, Winston’s post office moved around quite a bit. In the 1880’s, it was located for a time in the courthouse, and in 1891 it was on the East side of Liberty Street just above Fourth. By the turn of the century it had moved to the Lemly building on Main Street at the southeast corner of Third. But on July 1st, 1899, the separate post offices of Winston and Salem were consolidated with the postmark ‘Winston-Salem’.

In 1906 the new Federal Building, housing the United States Attorney, Commissioner, Deputy Marshall and Internal Revenue Service as well as the Post Office, opened its doors at the corner of Liberty and Fifth. The next building housed T. A. Brown’s bowling alley on the first floor and above, the Jones Building, realty and law offices. Next was the Hippodrome, a vaudeville house.