Sited across from H. H. Richardson's Thomas Crane Memorial Library (QU6) and a neighbor to Alexander Parris's United First Parish Church (QU8), the Quincy Main Post Office is a significant Classical Revival civic building. The building's restrained, symmetrical, linear surface treatment; boxy form; and monochromatic Indiana limestone contrasts with the library's polychromatic materials and robust curvilinear ornamentation. James Knox Taylor (1897–1912) designed other Massachusetts post offices, as well, including Chelsea (see CL2; 1910). Taylor advocated the construction of government buildings with high-quality building materials. He achieved monumentality and classical massing by the use of severe plain pilasters and recessed fenestration under a wide entablature with a denticulated cornice.