Handle with Care: Saving Washington, Missouri’s Old Main Post Office By National Trust for Historic Preservation on August 18th, 2010 Written by Erica Stewart A nearly two-year campaign to save a downtown post office might seem a bit bewildering to a city dweller. I can set out in almost any direction from my home in northeast Washington, DC and find a … Read More
Welcome to Ye Olde Village Poste Office
On July 26, 1775, the U.S. postal system was established by the Second Continental Congress, with Benjamin Franklin as its first postmaster general. In its profound wisdom, the Postal Service chose July 26 to release a list of 3,653 post offices that will it be studying for closure over the coming months. The list even includes the B Free Franklin … Read More
Ben rolls over in his grave: B Free Franklin post office, on the chopping block
Is nothing remotely sacred to the people in L'Efant Plaza? Myfoxphilly.com is reporting that the B Free Franklin post office, one of the icons of American postal history, is on today's closure list: "The post office is at Franklin Square in Philadelphia's Independence Mall area and is adjacent to the U.S. Postal Service Museum. It is on the location of … Read More
Closings in the Heartland: Breaking down the Iowa closure list
Iowa has about 960 post offices, and there are 180 on the closing list. That’s almost 20% of Iowa’s post offices, and almost twice the national average of about 11% (3,600 out of 32,000). And that's on top of the 80 or so already marked for closing. Iowa Backroads is doing a fantastic job keeping track of all the closings … Read More
Taking a chunk out of the Apple: Breaking down the closing list for New York State
While it’s going to take a while to process all the data on what the Postal Service closure plan represents, it might be useful to focus on one state just to get a preliminary idea of what’s happening. Let’s start with New York State. New York has about 2,100 post offices, and there are 110 on the closing list, so … Read More
Breaking News: The Closure List Is Out
Here’s the list. The Postal Service has released the list of over 3,600 post offices that will be studied for closure over the coming months. It’s organized state by state, and the USPS website provides only the office name, city, and ZIP code. There’s no information about whether the location is an independent post office, station or branch; whether … Read More
The PMG’s “New Concept” Unveiled: Not so new, but what a concept
The major media outlets are finally reporting, as we’ve known for several days now, that over 3,600 post offices are being targeted for closure in the Postal Service's new plan, but here’s the real news. The Postal Service is also unveiling its “replacement strategy” for communities that lose their post office, and it turns out to be a “plan to have third-party … Read More
Optimizing Bethesda: Another New Deal post office, sold and soon to close
Head west out of USPS headquarters in L’Enfant Plaza and take Wisconsin Avenue north, and in less than 30 minutes, if the traffic isn’t too bad, you’ll find yourself in one of the richest and most highly educated communities in the country, Bethesda, Maryland. In the middle of town at 7400 Wisconsin Avenue you’ll discover one of the more beautiful … Read More
It’s the end of the post office, and the national media didn’t get the press release
More than 150 post offices close in a matter of months, over a thousand post offices are under study for closure, the Postal Service announces that it is going to consider 3,600 post offices for discontinuance over the next year, and the Postal Regulatory Commission is about to begin a review of the USPS plan for an Advisory Opinion—an Opinion … Read More
The Post Office Gets Its Day in Court
The post office as a national institution will soon have its day in court, and the verdict could be a matter of life or death. Yesterday, the Postal Service announced that it will request an Advisory Opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission about its plan to study 3,600 post offices for closure. On July 26, the Postal Service will release … Read More
Week in Review
There's a lot of postal news out there right now, and it's going to get even crazier next week when the Postal Service releases a list of some 3,500 post offices that will be (or are being) studied for closure. Expect thousands of articles, in every local newspaper and online news source that covers a town with a post office … Read More
NY Times July 21, 2011
Many Seek to Revamp Post Office By SEAN COLLINS WALSH WASHINGTON — Until the deficit negotiations took center stage this summer, several members of Congress had another issue they wanted to focus on: an overhaul of the Postal Service, which is on the brink of insolvency. “If it wasn’t for the federal debt ceiling and the budget issues, this would be … Read More
PRC Chairman Goldway dissents two times in two days
In what may be an indication of growing concern over closing post offices, the Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, Ruth Goldway, issued two dissenting opinions in as many days this week. The first expressed her reluctance to allow a post office in New Jersey to be closed while the decision to close was under appeal, and the second focused … Read More
PMG finds plan to close thousands of post offices in bottom of desk drawer
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe made a startling discovery over the weekend—a USPS plan to close 16,000 post offices over the next few years. Just last Friday, in the Rule announcing changes to its procedures for closing post offices (published in the Federal Register), the Postal Service had indicated it had no plan in place to close a significant number of … Read More
Breaking News: USPS will file for Advisory Opinion on nationwide post office closures
On the Postal Regulatory Commission website: Chairman’s Message: Dear Postal Consumers: The Postal Service has indicated that it intends soon to file a request for an Advisory Opinion on a nationwide plan to review post office facilities for closure. The Commission will welcome comments from the public and will take prompt action on the request for an Advisory Opinion. Once … Read More
