Page 48 - 2019octnov

Treasuring our Past

by Mary Carole Strother

alking through the doors of the Collin County History off the lobby floor. There was a restroom between the offices with a
Museum, in historic downtown McKinney, you get a glimpse viewing room overlooking the main sorting room. A marble staircase
Wof the early days of McKinney. Over one hundred years ago, with ornate iron railing led up to the third floor. This area was used as
the Federal Building at the corner of Virginia and Chestnut Street was office space for visits from the Postal Inspector and other government
a bustling center of communication and workers.
commerce and served as the McKinney The building was a Post Office until
Post Office. In 1907, Congressman June 6, 1959 when the building and
Choice B. Randell called for a permanent land were deeded to Collin County. It
Post Office to be built in McKinney was then used as an office and storage
replacing the rented spaces that had been for Collin County Civil Defense
used since McKinney was established in and by various other government
1848. Congress appropriated $100,000 for organizations. On November 11,
the construction of a new building in 1908. 1976 former first lady, Lady Bird
The following year, Mrs. Sarah M. Benge Johnson, cut the ribbon to celebrate the
sold a city lot that was 120x130 feet in designation of the building as a county
size to the United States Government for museum.
$3000.
On April 21, 1911 construction of the Fundraising began for the restoration
of the building and in 1982 it reopened
building was awarded to John Barden as the Central Museum. Today the
of Forth Worth for the contract price of $44,940. Two months later, building is the home of the Collin County History Museum and many
excavation work began and in July the laying of the concrete foundation of the historic features of the building have been preserved making this
for the building started and the first brick was laid. In August, work on building a valuable treasure of our past.
the granite foundation began and on September 20, 1911 the building
cornerstone was set in place with a special ceremony. The limestone You can visit the museum and enjoy our current exhibit, McKinney
for the exterior of the building came from Cedar Park Quarry in Then and Now. The exhibit is a showcase of historic photos, artifacts,
Williamson County, Texas. The material for the grey granite base and and set designs of historic buildings that tell the stories of the people,
front steps came from the Llano Fields Quarry. The inner walls were places, and events that helped shape McKinney.
hollow cement tile, a new product designed for fireproof construction.
Construction on the building was delayed by five months due to winter
rains and shipment delays caused by a rail strike. Work resumed once
again on the building, and in May 1912 a firebox boiler was installed in
the basement. The boiler, built by the Kewanee Boiler Corporation, was
fueled by burning coal and supplied the building with both heat and hot
water. This method of heating was used until the building was updated
to use natural gas.
In October of 1912, construction of the building was nearing completion
as an 8-foot revolving door and 302 brass mail boxes were installed in
the entrance. In December, the building was inspected and accepted
by the government and the staff began moving into their new location.
On January 2, 1913, the McKinney Federal Building was opened to the
public. The total cost to build and furnish it was $95,000. There were 17
post office employees including 2 city mailmen, 6 rural delivery men, 5
specialized clerks and two building janitors. The postal rate was 2 cents
and post cards were 1 cent. The McKinney Post Office did $30,166.90
worth of business.
The Post Office had many distinctive architectural features including a
terrazzo and marble floor in the entryway of the lobby. At the eastern
end of the lobby was a teller window for the Postal Savings Bank.
The bank had a vault which held the daily deposits which were then
transferred at the end of each working day to one of the banks on the
square.
Arched windows led into the main room used for processing the mail.
The mail room had hardwood floors and a safe where the employee
payroll and postal money orders were kept. The Postmaster’s office was
on the west side of the processing room. His assistant’s office was just

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