The vanishing post office

Posted at 11:29 AM on July 26, 2011 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)

Plenty of Minnesota post offices are on the list of 3,700 locations around the country which may be closed. Only in the postal service can a list of possibly doomed post offices and retail sites be called an "expanded service list."

The Minnesota list reads like a who's who of towns few people have heard of before. Darfur, for example: Population 108. Popular lore says the town was named when two Scandinavian railroad men questioned, "why you stop dar fur?" Viewed from Google Earth, Darfur looks like a hundred other small town in Minnesota: A grain elevator, a couple of buildings, one of which is a post office.

Post offices can be more of a social center in small towns, rather than a desperately needed communication tool. When one closes, it's also a signal to a small town that it's time is up.

The irony is the post office is being killed by the Internet, but most of the towns which may lose their post office have little to no decent Internet service.

Here's the Minnesota list of communities whose post offices/retail locations are threatened:

Alberta
Alpha
Arco
Avoca
Beaver Creek
Bigelow
Borup
Brooks
Burtrum
Clontarf
Comstock
Conger
Correll
Danvers
Donaldson
Dumont
Darfur
Freeborn
Granada
Hardwick
Hayward
Iona
Magnolia
Millville
North Mankato
Ormsby
Pemberton
Peterson
Twin Lakes
Waltham
Kilkenny
Mendota
Riverview (Saint Paul)
Seeger Square Finance (Saint Paul)
Butler Quarter (Minneapolis)
Commerce (Minneapolis)
Lowry Avenue (Minneapolis)
Euclid
Georgetown
Hanley Falls
Hendrum
Hitterdal
Holloway
Kent
Lake Bronson
Lengby
Marietta
Naytahwaush
New Auburn
Nielsville
Norcross
Odessa
Perley
Ponemah
Ponsford
Porter
Shelly
Strathcona
Sunburg
Vining
Wanda
Wannaska
Waskish
Watson
Wolverton
Aldrich
Birchdale
Bock
Brimson
Brookston
Bruno
Calumet
Civic Center (Duluth)
Flensburg
Fort Ripley
Grandy
Hines
Kerrick
Lake George
Lakeside (Duluth)
Makinen
McGrath
Mizpah
Squaw Lake
Taconite
West Duluth
Wright

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Comments (7)

I feel bad when small towns lose their post offices. I think it makes sense to consolidate post offices in the city to reduce the numbers that need to be shut down in small towns. If they were to close the one near my house, I'd still have 3 or 4 within a quick bike/drive/bus trip from my house. Plus, in the city, you have places like Kinkos and the grocery store that fulfill some of the post office duties, they don't have those in small towns.

Posted by Kassie | July 26, 2011 12:13 PM

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as a student, I find it much easier to use the University mail room

Posted by bench | July 26, 2011 12:31 PM

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There was a local story on Morning Edition a few months back on this very subject. What struck me the most is that rural post offices (in total) account for about 1% of total operating costs for the USPS. I don't live in a rural place, yet I know how vital a post office can be to a town. This seems like one of those things that the government should be doing, as it's not profitable to run a postal outpost in a small town yet it's a community center for that town and critical for many in the community.

Posted by Patrick S. | July 26, 2011 1:19 PM

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My hometown post office closed up over 10 years ago. Population was 79 at the time. First, they took away the building and moved the mailboxes into the back of the town bar. The area had a separate entrance so you didn't actually have to enter the bar to get to the mailboxes. Someone would work at that desk part time. Then eventually that got to be too expensive too and the shut that down and just put in boxes in the building where the volunteer fire department (and where everyone goes to for coffee in the morning). The rural mailman would just fill the boxes on his route and would carry a small supply of stamps and other USPS items in case someone needed to purchase something. They made it work. Most people run to "town" (a larger town 20 minutes away) to get gas or groceries a couple times a week anyway, so they just plan to ship bigger items when they take those trips.

Posted by LJ | July 26, 2011 2:37 PM

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Here's a piece I posted just this morning on Minnesota Prairie Roots about the post office in Hope, south of Owatonna:

http://mnprairieroots.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/zip-code-56046/

I discovered it on Sunday, when my husband and I were on one of our Sunday afternoon drives in rural Minnesota.

The Hope Post Office isn't on today's list. But I recognize many of the towns like Darfur along State Highway 30 in southwestern Minnesota, Wanda (also sw MN), Hanley Falls (also sw MN), Kilkenny...

These towns don't need to lose their post offices, too, (which often really are community meeting places) in addition to all the businesses that have disappeared from small-town Main Street.

Posted by Audrey Kletscher Helbling | July 26, 2011 4:31 PM

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I saw that post this morning before I checked the Minnesota list. Then I held my breath hoping Hope wasn't on it.

I also meant to link to your (as usual) excellent post.

Posted by Bob Collins | July 26, 2011 4:35 PM

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Did Elrosa get taken off the list? I know they had a hearing there regarding closing the post office.

Posted by Jeb | July 26, 2011 9:00 PM

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