Save the Post Office is edited and administered by Steve Hutkins, a retired English professor who taught place studies and travel literature at the Gallatin School of New York University. Steve lives in a small town in New York’s Hudson Valley. He has no affiliation with the U.S. Postal Service, doesn’t work for it, nor does anyone in his family. Like millions of Americans, he just likes his local post office and doesn’t want to see post offices closed.

This website provides information about post office closings, suspensions, and consolidations; the historic post office buildings that are being sold; and the fight to preserve the people’s post office. The website also examines topics like the Postal Service’s finances, court cases, and the efforts to privatize the postal system.

Steve was one of twenty people honored by Vice.com as “Humans of the Year” for 2020. Writing for Vice, Aaron Gordon said the “save the post office” project “made Hutkins one of the most consistent independent USPS observers looking out for the best interests of ordinary U.S. residents…. In a way, Hutkins demonstrates the finest example of what a functioning civil society looks like in a year where we haven’t had an awful lot of those. The entire premise of a representative democracy is that most people can’t or don’t want to pay close attention to what the government is doing all the time. But a functioning democracy also requires people, like Hutkins, facilitating an informed citizenry that puts a transparent government to good use.”

In 2011, during its first year online, Save the Post Office was named the “Most Valuable Website” by John Nichols in Nation Magazine’s annual Honor Roll. “Nowhere was the assault on public services more aggressive than in the push to downsize the Postal Service,” wrote Nichols. “And Steve Hutkins’s website, www.savethepostoffice.com, became an essential resource for a network of grassroots groups in all fifty states defending local post offices—along with the idea that the founders were right when they argued that a strong postal service does not just deliver mail; it builds communities and links them as a nation. Best of all, Save the Post Office has made smart arguments for expanding the USPS by doing things like renewing the old postal banking system.”

Unless otherwise noted, all the articles on Save the Post Office are written by Steve.

If you’d like to drop Steve a note, send a note to steve@savethepostoffice.com or use the contact form.

Contact Save the Post Office

Mark Jamison

Mark Jamison, who served for many years as a postmaster in a small town in North Carolina, is a regular contributor and adviser to Save the Post Office. His posts can be found here, and there’s more about Mark here. You can reach Mark at markijamison01@gmail.com.

More about Save the Post Office

One of Steve’s articles about post office closings is cited in United States Postal Service:A Sustainable Path Forward: Report from the Task Force on the United States Postal System.

Steve has written about historic post offices for the National Trust for Historic Preservation (Section 106, Protective Covenants, and Sale of Historic Post Offices), and he submitted testimony to Preserving Historic Post Offices: A Report to Congress, prepared by The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

Steve’s posts have been cited in scholarly articles, including

Save the Post Office has appeared in numerous news articles, including:

In addition to editing Save the Post Office, Steve has filed several comments and briefs to the Postal Regulatory Commission concerning appeals on post office closures and suspensions.

Filing Date Docket No. Title
01/19/2023 ACR2022 Motion for Information Request
05/16/2022 PI 2022-1 Initial Comments on Emergency Suspensions
06/25/2021 N2021-1 Reply Brief on Service Standard Changes
06/21/2021 N2021-1 Initial Brief on Service Standard Changes
06/10/2021 N2021-1 Rebuttal Testimony on Service Standard Changes
01/19/2021 ACR2020 Motion for Information Request
08/21/2020 ACR2019 Motion for Information Request regarding Service Performance Reports
02/07/2020 ACR2019 Motion for Issuance of Information Request No. 2
01/15/2020 ACR2019 Motion for Issuance of Information Request of Steve Hutkins
06/14/2016 PI2016-3 Initial Comments by Steven Hutkins Regarding the Commission’s Section 701 Report
03/29/2016 PI2016-2 Reply Comments of Steve Hutkins on the Commission’s Jurisdiction Over Post Office Closings
02/04/2016 PI2016-2 Initial Comments of Steve Hutkins on the Commission’s Jurisdiction Over Post Office Closings
01/20/2016 ACR2015 Steve Hutkins Motion for Issuance of Information Request
03/30/2015 A2015-2 Letter Received from Steve Hutkins Regarding the Careywood, ID Post Office
11/12/2013 A2013-5 Response to Postal Service Reply to the Petitioner’s Motion for Reconsideration
11/12/2013 A2013-5 Motion for Leave to Submit Response to Postal Service Reply to Motion for Reconsideration
10/31/2013 A2013-5 Motion for Leave to Submit Motion for Reconsideration
10/31/2013 A2013-5 Motion for Reconsideration of Order Affirming Final Determination
07/03/2013 A2013-6 Petition for Review Received from Steve Hutkins Regarding Bronx General Post Office, Bronx, NY 10451