By JEANETTE FLACK
WSU Intern
Around 1975, Westfield saw the construction and opening of a brand new, modern post office on West Silver Street. That was therefore the last year that the Old Post Office, downtown on the corner of Main and Broad Streets, filled that function.
The Old Post Office, in its turn, was built circa 1912, under the architectural supervision of James Knox Taylor, who at the time was Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury. Taylor is also known for designing multiple other post offices across the United States, and as Taylor retired from this post around the same time, that makes the Westfield Post Office one of the last he designed for the government. Soon after the initial construction, because the advent of parcel post, a new addition had to be connected to the Southwest portion of the building, and this addition was completed circa 1930.
When the U.S. Postal Service moved into their current location, they left the landmark building free for other uses, though it appears that USPS maintained a smaller presence, with only their main offices in the building, until about 1986. The Old Post Office hosted various small businesses in the remainder of the 20th century, including the Main Sail Gift Shop, The Mulberry Tree, an Antique Marketplace, and a short-lived but memorable restaurant called Benjamin’s, hidden in the basement. None of those businesses lasted into the New Millennium. According to the building’s current owner, John Bonavita, The Old Post Office sat vacant for about 15 years, throughout all of the 1990s.
Finally, in 2004, the building changed hands a final time and was converted into the now-famous Tavern Restaurant. Converting the entire building, rather than just the cellar, into a restaurant took extensive renovations. A Mezzanine had been added sometime in the small-business period, and this was removed, bringing the Old Post Office closer to its original state. At the same time, the utilities were modernized, and the building was made handicap-accessible. A brand-new kitchen was built as well, on the first floor this time.
The Tavern has only been open for the last ten years or so, but already it seems the restaurant has been here forever. Technically, the building has been there for the last hundred years, and no one can say it isn’t being put to good use. It’s truly amazing how much a place can change in a hundred years.
