The design is based on an Italian Renaissance palazzo, with a rusticated brick ground floor and round-arched openings, smooth brick second-story walls with stone window lintels, and deeply projecting eaves over exposed, scrolled rafter tails. Unlike similar post offices under James Knox Taylor’s tenure as Supervising Architect, the front lacks a loggia, making for a rather taught appearance. After the post office constructed new facilities, the building was converted in 1964 to federal offices and in 1989 transferred to Anderson County for office use.
Corbeled brickwork at the cornice and segmental-arched window hoods define a subtle Italianate building for Kolstad Jewelers (c. 1880; 100 W. Oak), the oldest family-operated retail store in Texas, founded in 1853 by Norwegian immigrant Soren J. Kolstad. Opposite at 103 W. Oak, the two-story Link-Bratton Drug Building (c. 1901) has a fully glazed first floor and a brick second story on cast-iron supports.
The Gardner Building (1908; 107–109 W. Oak) is a pair of identical, two-story brick buildings with cast-iron storefronts. The right side at 107 was the Gem Picture Palace and number 109 was the Palestine Gas Company.