Did you know that the U.S.P.S. sometimes sells off old buildings and facilities? There’s a real estate page I look at often where I dream of having the half a million dollars to house the L.W.A. in an actual post office. While part of me is sad that these buildings are for sale, I also find myself fascinated by what they become.
For example, in my neighborhood, our old post office building is now a fitness center. This is also the fate of this grand building in Petaluma, California. The CA building was a lot more picturesque than the one near me which is a 1970s box. Honestly, I think I like it better as a gym than a P.O. Also within walking distance from my house is a warehouse for an event company inside an old Post Office store front.
I’ve talked about people living in post offices on the blog before, but I think one of my favorite reimagined P.O.s is the Willimantic Brewing Co. in Connecticut. My pen pal Marissa sent me a postcard from there. It’s her hometown bar and they’ve kept a lot of the old postal features as well as worked in the postal theme to their logo and beer names. Bars and restaurants seem to be a popular reincarnation for post postal buildings.
Have you noticed any post offices turned into something new
near you? How do you feel about P.O. buildings doing service other than postal?
Let us know in the comments.
I think it's sad that they are no longer post offices, but I'm glad they don't tear them down. These buildings are too beautiful to tear down. I've seen post office turned into banks.
In Philly, there is a Post Office branch in a building that Ben Franklin used to own. And the former main headquarters for the P.O. (a building that takes up an entire block) now houses the IRS.
Posted by: Nicolle | March 22, 2013 at 03:20 PM
The post office nearest my office was converted into a headquarters for the IRS. Thankfully before they renovated it, they rescued the old countertops with the ornate art nouveau decorations and moved them into Union Station which is where my PO Box is now. Luckily Union Station is still full of marble floors and is similar in architecture but I miss the old building just the same.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/snowangels/6819324594/
Posted by: ana | March 23, 2013 at 10:10 AM
And the Victorian post office in Colchester is now a cinema. Well, only the facade is left, the interior structure was completely replaced.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16248284@N03/6075354037/
The post office moved down the road into a building which I believe was originally a car showroom.
Alan
Posted by: Alan | March 23, 2013 at 03:20 PM
One of the few "historic" Las Vegas buildings that hasn't suffered implosion is our former Post Office which now houses the Mob Musuem...somehow that just doesn't "fit" as far as I'm concerned. I have to get downtown soon to snap a picture of it.
Posted by: Joan Clarke | March 25, 2013 at 11:35 PM
Hi there!
Yes, we have one locally here in New Braunfels, Texas that used to be a post office which became a restaurant! It opened a couple of years ago, and it is kind of a neat story. The post office was commissioned in 1915 by the New Braunfels, Texas Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo. Now that is the name of the restaurant: McAdoo's!
This page on their site shows some of the old original photos, as well as some new ones. :)
http://www.mcadoos.com/photos.php
Posted by: Jennifer | April 01, 2013 at 06:40 PM