During the 1930s, the Roosevelt administration implemented the New Deal, which would develop the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA was a federal jobs program that hired thousands of citizens to construct public works projects. Hobart, Indiana, received funding for multiple public works projects, including the construction of the city's first federal post office and painting of "Early Hobart", the post office lobby's mural.
Federal Post Office
Beginnings
According to The Hobart Index: The Commonwealth, a local newspaper, in March 1936, the government requested bids for the construction of a new post office. Although the first Hobart post office appeared about 100 years earlier, this was the city's first federal building. Each interested applicant could obtain one copy of drawings and specifications for the building, which required return to the government. Companies that "consistently failed to submit proposals" were not furnished with specifications. All proposals were to be publicly opened on April 15, 1936, in Washington, D.C.
According to the specifications supplied by the U.S. Government, the new building was to be 62 by 58 feet, built with brick and steel, and trimmed in stone. Additionally, "the new structure [was] to be erected on the east side of Main Street between 2nd and 3rd on ground purchased from the Killigrew estate" for $9,000. A total of $67,000 was allotted for the project, leaving $56,000 available after the purchase of the land.
On Wednesday, June 24, 1936, the government obtained absolute title to the land purchased from the Killigrew estate, after "condemnation proceedings were filed in the South Bend Federal Court". The term "condemnation proceedings" refers to eminent domain, in which the government is able to take private property for public use upon compensation to the owner. The next day, Joseph Mellon, the Hobart Post Office postmaster, stated that the formal awarding of the contract was to be expected soon, meaning work could start on the building as soon as late July.
It was not until July that the formal award of the contract came to the Structural Engineering Corporation of New York City. The corporation was awarded the contract because they estimated construction at $46,123, the lowest bid. The contract required the corporation to start work on the building within 30 days of the formal award and allowed 250 days for the completion of the project.
That same month, John W. Murphy, president of the Structural Engineering Corporation of New York City, arrived in Hobart to "complete final details of the job". Part of the remaining details included subletting the contract and buying materials. Murphy explained that he "planned to buy practically all materials for the construction work locally, as well as hire all local help possible on the job".
Murphy kept his word by contracting the William Scharbach Sr. & Sons Lumber Company of Hobart to supply all lumber and building materials used in construction. Furthermore, Murphy granted the plumbing contract to Gary Heating and Plumbing and had intentions of subletting the "electrical, roofing, excavating, and foundation work". Although excavation was to begin on August 17, no excavation contract had been made as of August 13, which could have potentially delayed the start date significantly.
Breaking ground
On Tuesday, August 18, only one day later than expected, excavation work began. The excavation contract was awarded to the Fred Shearer Construction Company of Gary, Indiana. Hobart citizens were present for the ceremony "wherein the first shovel of dirt was turned over by Mayor Frank Davis assisted by Postmaster Joseph E. Mellon". According to Robert Adams' and Dorothy Ballantyne's book, Along the Route: A History of Hobart, Indiana, Post Offices and Postmasters, Hobart was a fast Republican Party stronghold in a Democratic Party county and, at the time, a Democratic federal government. Dyed-in-the-wool Republicans were a bit dubious about accepting Democratic favors, but pride in a federal building for Hobart grew until, when the building was ready for use, it was dedicated with a great deal of enthusiasm.