Scene in Petaluma: Pointing out Petaluma Gargoyles

“I was just looking up at these gargoyles.”

During Friday’s ceremony on Oct. 14 marking the official renaming of the downtown Petaluma Post Office as the Lynn C. Woolsey Post Office, numerous speeches were made by a steady, oratorical parade of Post Office representatives, family members and Washington dignitaries, including Congressman Mike Thompson, who made the above remark about the historical building’s many fetching lion-like gargoyle downspouts. The master of ceremonies for the event was Congressman Jared Huffman, who wrote the legislation, signed by President Joe Biden in June of this year, to rename the post office in honor of Woolsey’s 20 years of service in congress representing Marin County and most of Sonoma County.

“I think you’re going to have to write another bill,” Thompson told Huffman during his turn at the microphone. “To me, each one of these gargoyle represents one of the groups that Lynn Woolsey helped during her time in congress.” Pointing to three or for of the gargoyles in order, he said, “That one’s for the women she helped. That one’s for girls. That one’s for struggling families. I think we’re going to need about 20 more gargoyles on this building, so we’re going to need another bill.”

The remark – clearly intended as a gentle and jokey tribute to Woolsey’s legacy – had the effect of turning the gathered crowd’s attention to those gargoyles, which tend to spend their time wholly unnoticed by those who visit the post office on a regular basis.

Built in 1933, the Petaluma Post Office was designed by the Office of the Supervising Architect, employing a design approach seen in other federal buildings, mainly in California. It represents an architectural transition from once-popular 1920s classicism to a less ornate, simplified “Starved Classical” style increasingly common in the 1930s in government buildings. The downtown Petaluma Post Office is a form of Spanish Colonial Revival, those gargoyle downspouts clearly borrowing from Spanish Gothic archetypes.

The building itself was designed by Louis Simon of the Office of the Supervising Architect in the U.S. Treasury Department. Its construction was officially authorized by the Keyes-Elliot Act of 1926, which funded a number of federal buildings designed in a similar style, gargoyles included.

For the record, the Lynn C. Woolsey Post Office is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Sonoma County. Despite the building’s shiny new name change – indicated by a plaque now hanging inside the building, not on its exterior – it is highly unlikely any new gargoyles will be added.

Though for now, perhaps a few more people will be noticing them.

“Scene in Petaluma” is a weekly feature of the Argus-Courier’s Community section. Do you have a recent photograph that just might take our breath away? We’d love to see it. Send your best shot to scene@arguscourier.com and we will choose one to showcase. Please include your full name, and tell us a little about what the shot it and where you took it, and maybe something interesting about what was going on when you captured the shot.