Allen Abel for Linn’s Stamp News: It never is a joyous occasion when a United States post office is shuttered for good, but it is especially melancholy when the closure occurs in a tiny settlement that once played a part in turning back one of the most powerful armies in the world.

There is not much in Fort Howard, Md., to remind the casual visitor that it was here, on Sept. 12, 1814, that Great Britain landed a force of some 4,000 soldiers and marines with the intention of seizing the city of Baltimore, a dozen marshy miles away. They never got there in part because of a battle fought at North Point.

The redcoats, stymied by the Maryland Militia under the command of Gen. John Stricker at the Battle of North Point, observed the red glare of the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore on Sept. 13 and 14….

A few months ago, citing its inability to reach a new lease agreement with a local landlord, the U.S. Postal Service announced that the Fort Howard station would be terminated in September. An appeal from the Maryland congressional delegation got the USPS to push the deadline back to Oct. 31.

Read more: Maryland post office with ties to 1814 battle shuttered on Halloween