yesterday's tennessee

LEXINGTON POST OFFICE (1938-1996)

The "new" Lexington Post Office was constructed on the site of what was formerly the Scott House/Daws Hotel on Broad Street. The proposal for the new post office was submitted on January 17, 1937, and the final inspection was done on December 31, 1937. Construction was undertaken by the Bonded Construction Corporation of New York, New York; L.E. Tull was the construction engineer Bonded placed the winning construction bid of $51,067; for this price they agreed to "furnish all labor and material, and perform all work required..." Items included $6905 for woodwork, $6361 for brick work and $2825 for ornamental metal.

The "new" Lexington Post Office was constructed on the site of the Daws Hotel. The original hotel building was the residence of Daniel Penn. The home was purchased by C. R. Scott who later converted it to a hotel. Still later the hotel was enlarged and renovated at least twice. The view above shows the hotel after the 1913 tornado, which lifted off part of the roof. The hotel burned to the ground in January 1928.

Source: Davis, Emily, and Brenda Kirk Fiddler, Henderson County, Tennessee: A Pictorial History (Rose Publishing Company, Humboldt, Tennessee, 1996).