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Justin Brandt has worked for the post office in Globe for 36 years and has a seemingly endless amount of knowledge about the building and the postal service. On Saturday, April 16, he led his annual public tours of the normally closed parts of the post office, including the former civil service room downstairs and the building’s third floor, which housed a federal courthouse. Brandt’s pride is palpable as he highlights the building’s rich history.
Brandt explained that the post office was built in 1927 and its location was chosen because, at the time, the post office had to be within one block of the train depot. According to Brandt, there is a sister building to the Globe post office in Port Angeles, Washington, which looks exactly the same.
Although the whole basement was considered a fallout shelter, there is one highly secure room where the civil defense rations were stored. The basement also housed social security and immigration offices. Upstairs, Brandt said that the light fixtures are original, but they’ve been rewired. Wood paneling and carpeting were added upstairs in 1977. The stained glass inset in the soaring ceilings of the former courthouse upstairs were originally part of skylights that allowed light to shine in through the glass.
Brandt’s once-a-year public post office tour is a must-see peek into one of Globe’s treasured historic buildings.
Autumn Giles is a freelance writer and recipe developer whose work has appeared in Edible Baja Arizona, Modern Farmer, Punch, Serious Eats, and elsewhere. Her first book, Beyond Canning was published in February 2016.
