United States Post Office & former branch of the US Mint

This picture was taken along the 400 block of West Trade Street in the early 1900s. On the left is the United States Post Office and on the right is the United States Mint, which at this time was an Assay Office. The Post Office was built in 1881 and demolished in 1915. A fire in 1844 destroyed the first Mint, but it was rebuilt and completed by 1846, and resumed minting coins. By the time, this postcard was taken, coins were no longer being minted here. Instead it was used as an Assayer's office to determine the value of gold ore brought in by the miners. This building should look somewhat familiar to you. In 1931, the building was dismantled, brick-by-brick then moved to Randolph Road where it was reassembled. In 1936, the building became the Mint Museum of Art.

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