The 2026 Calendar of Post Offices and Places

Holy moley, this is the tenth iteration of Postlandia Calendar of Post Offices and Places! That makes 120 post offices featured, and like yours truly the calendar has indeed been to all 50 states. It's still the optimal present for the postal nerd in your life: fun to look at, fun-ctional, and informative. What more could one want?

The direct link to order the calendar is [no longer active. The product is no longer for sale.].


2026 Postlandia Calendar Cover:


Each month features a high-resolution image (unlike the compressed versions I post here) with a caption detailing what makes the post office building or place it serves unique. I vetted information about the buildings from over two dozen sources, including National Register of Historic Places nomination forms and newspapers dating back nearly a century—not to mention my personal experiences! I never know what I'm going to find conducting research about a post office building, and I hope you find the information and anecdotes worthwhile.

Shipping + Battleship:


My publisher of choice is Lulu, who prints all calendars to order. The quality has always been fantastic, and their customer service is even better. The pages have no issue holding up to any ink writing you can throw at it—pen or even Sharpie.

In addition to the holidays you'll find on other calendars, you'll find historic tidbits and postal trivia. Welcome to [what's almost certainly] the only calendar that notes the first U.S. Airmail flight of May 15, 1918.

Rock on, Cleveland:


As always, sales of these calendars help support my continued post office explorations, which this year have included trips to the Dakotas, Ohio and Pennsylvania (which have given me great ideas for the 2027 calendar!). Proceeds also support the time I continue to dedicate expanding the Post Mark Collectors Club (PMCC)'s Online Post Office Photo Collection, the accessible reference with more than 34,000 post office photos!

Maine Frame:


Again, the link to order the 2026 Postlandia calendar directly from our publisher, Lulu, is [link no longer active]; just remember to check above for current publisher discounts!

Thank you for your support for so many years!

Sincerely,
Evan (Postlandia)

Post Offices of the Caribbean

Three years ago I wrote a post about the post offices of Puerto Rico. It was fun to write; my one regret was that I didn't have any photos of my own to present to you. This has since changed!

The U.S. territories of Pureto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were pummeled by the twin storms of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in late 2017. This led to destruction that was widely covered in the media. Postally speaking, the storms led to the suspension of all postal operations for multiple days, and the shutdown of many post offices for prolonged periods of time. A couple of post offices were undergoing continuing repairs and renovations a year and a half later.


Hallway in the Guaynabo post office in February 2019, undergoing repairs and renovations.

In January 2019 I saw an article about the newly restored New Deal murals at the Emancipation Gardens post office in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. Turns out that was all the motivation I needed to plan a trip to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in order to visit and photograph every single postal operation. Over 2.5 weeks in February and March 2019 I visited each of the 132 postal operations (post offices, Contract Postal Units, and mail processing facilities) in Puerto Rico and each of the 12 post offices on St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition to photographing every post office I obtained postmarks from every single one, both for my personal postmark collection and for the National Postmark Museum in Bellevue, Ohio.

First and foremost, the trip would not have been possible without the incredible patience and helpfulness of members of USPS's Corporate Communications team, as well as officials from USPS's Caribbean District. Thank you!

I have many stories to share from my wonderful experiences in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and I look forward to sharing them with you. For now, let me share with you a handful of interesting statistics:

• Nights: 16
• Lodgings: 7
• Flights: 6
• Ferry rides: 4
• Rental cars: 2
• Miles driven: 1,473
• Miles driven on the left side of the road: 41
• Puerto Rico municipios visited: 78 of 78
• "Safari bus" trips: 2
• "Politaxi" trips: 1

I am pleased to report that the Post Mark Collectors Club (PMCC)'s Online Post Office Photo Collection now has images of every U.S. postal operation in the Caribbean. The collection now boasts 216 photographs of Puerto Rico post offices, and 21 photographs of post offices in the U.S. Virgin Islands.



The earliest photos date to the 1930s, when federally financed post offices in Mayagüez and Ponce were completed. The collection also features about 40 photos taken by Postlandia friend John Gallagher during trips in 1999 and 2000. There are nine photos of former sites (including three of the magnificent former main post office in San Juan), and two of discontinued Contract Postal Units.

Personally, I've enjoyed comparing many post offices as they appeared twenty years ago vs. in 2019. The palate is brighter in Puerto Rico, and quite a few post offices have been given fantastic, rich paint schemes in recent years. Check out these blue beauties, two of many from the western side of Puerto Rico.




The Rincon and Camuy post offices, each photographed in 2000 and 2019. Photos from 2000 courtesy John Gallagher.

There's plenty more to enjoy in these collections. These post offices really are wonderful and unique, and I invite you to explore the photographs here:

• Puerto Rico post office photos: List, with links to photos; alphabetized album.
• U.S. Virgin Island post office photos: List, with links to photos; alphabetized album.

Hope you enjoy! —Evan

2019 Postal Summary

It's hard to imagine that this blog was founded nearly a decade ago, and that this is my TENTH Postal Summary. I didn't write a lot here this past year... it's not because I haven't been up to anything (quite the contrary!), but I've been focusing more of my energies on the quicker 'n easier Instagram world. Postlandia has a popular, growing Instagram feed. I posted more than 400 (mostly) postal-related photos in 2019, including at least three P.O.s from every U.S. state.

(As always, my prior summaries can be found at these links: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. Starting next year I'm just gonna link to this page with entries tagged "annual postal summary," heh. Let's go!)

2019 was an exciting year. I visited a decent 708 new, active postal operations this year across 18 states (in addition to re-visiting classics in New York). After correcting for a handful of errors in my spreadsheet, my grand total is now 9,994 post offices.

This year's travels included three major trips:
1. Puerto Rico / the U.S. Virgin Islands (17 days, all 144 post offices)
2. Ohio Valley / South (21 days, 351 new POs)
3. Delmarva Peninsula / eastern Virginia (13 days, 213 new POs)

Here I am at the San Antonio, Puerto Rico post office—my last in the territory, 11 days after my first. I'm holding a big, paper AAA map with every post office in Puerto circled (and highlighted, once I visited them); my finger is pointing to the San Antonio post office in the upper left corner:



Me at the Frederiksted, V.I. post office—my last in the territory, at the end of two days visiting its three main islands:



I was fortunate to be able to attend the First Day ceremony of the Post Office Murals stamps in Piggott, Arkansas on April 10, stopping at a forum: Postal Places, at Carnegie Mellon University on April 26, an event with an impressive roster of guests from postal circles. Sadly I can't find a link to the four amazing grad student-developed projects online, but here is a link to the course online.



During my trip to Delmarva [Delaware / Maryland / Virginia] I took a couple of side trips into Chesapeake Bay to visit the two post offices at Smith Island, Maryland, as well as the post office in Tangier Island, Virginia. Here I am at the latter:



Thank you to the dozens of people who purchased the 2020 Postlandia calendar! Your support is always greatly appreciated. This has always been a passion project, and I don't get paid a dime to do any of this.

I had some fun mailing packages in 2019...

As always, the counts in this post include active 'standard' post offices, Contract Postal Units (CPUs), carrier annexes, and mail processing plants. They do not include former sites (e.g. historic post office buildings), places I've previously been to but revisited (say, to take a better photo), or previously discontinued operations. Here are some assorted photos from various operations I've visited this year:

Cataño, Puerto Rico Detached Mail Delivery Unit


Virginia Beach, Virginia: McDonald Garden Center CPU


North Little Rock, Arkansas (former site, now library)


Paducah, Kentucky Carrier Annex


I continued documenting the U.S. Postal Service's New Deal treasures as well, for example:

Eutaw, Alabama: "The Countryside," by Robert Gwathmey (1941)

2019 By the Numbers

I visited as many as 34 post offices (of which 31 were new) in one day this year (in the Delmarva Peninsula portion of Virginia). State by state—and territory by territory:

Puerto Rico: 132 post offices
Focus/Foci: [All post offices in the territory]

Virginia: 118 post offices
Eastern counties of the Delmarva Peninsula; Hampton Roads; Richmond

Arkansas: 79 post offices
Northeast corner; Little Rock south to El Dorado

Louisiana: 70 post offices
North central Louisiana; Alexandria

Maryland: 58 post offices
Eastern Shore

Kentucky: 47 post offices
Ohio River Valley (western counties); Berea

Delaware: 34 post offices
North of Wilmington; eastern shore; Sussex County

Missouri: 32 post offices
Southeastern corner

Alabama: 27 post offices
Birmingham; northeast corner

Pennsylvania: 21 post offices
North of Pittsburgh

Tennessee: 19 post offices
Chattanooga; Cleveland; Jellico

Mississippi: 17 post offices
East of Jackson to Meridian

Indiana: 12 post offices
Evansville, to wit:



U.S. Virgin Islands: 12 post offices
[All post offices in the territory]

West Virginia: 12 post offices
Huntington; Charleston north

Massachusetts: 7 post offices
South of Quabbin Reservoir

Ohio: 5 post offices
Random Akron to Columbus; Marietta north

Georgia: 3 post offices
Dade County (NW corner)

Illinois: 2 post offices
Brookport; Cairo

North Carolina: 1 post offices
Knotts Island

This year I finished visiting every post office in Delaware, even getting to visit the post office at Dover Air Force Base. The impetus for the trip was the 58th annual Post Mark Collectors Club (PMCC) Convention, which took place in Dover, Delaware back in late September.

The "kids' table," PMCC convention:


Me at Talleyville Branch, Wilmington, DE, my final post office in the First State:


Counting Counties:
I visited 100 new counties in 2019. They are the dark blue counties east of Texas and south of New York on this travel map:



Dear readers, thank you for your continued support! I'm hoping to share many more new post office stories and photos with you in 2020.

The 2020 Calendar of Post Offices and Places

So! It's been a while since I've written many articles, but I've still been logging several thousand miles visiting post offices. Alas, it's that glorious time of the year that brings us pumpkin spice and the annual Postlandia Calendar of Post Offices and Places. I'm not here to write about the flavors of autumn, so hello calendar! For those of you new to the 'tradition,' the Postlandia calendar is a 12-month calendar that features a different, interesting, and photogenic post office for each month, plus a description of why it's significant. There's nothing else quite like it anywhere. This will be the fourth iteration, and the calendar has now featured at least one post office from most U.S. states.

The 2020 edition of the Postlandia calendar takes us to post offices far and wide—notably the Caribbean, home to the U.S. Post Offices of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. I've still yet to transcribe my adventures, but I visited every single P.O. in both U.S. territories earlier this year, and it was an unforgettable experience. You'll see two really cool finds from the Caribbean in the calendar. This said, the calendar also takes us to the Northwest, New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and all the way out to the Grand Canyon. The post offices are big and small, and there's something for everyone. (Everyone who's interested in post offices and/or snail mail, at least.)

Here's the [edit: link removed; project retired] direct link to the calendar on Lulu, my trusty printer.

The images are printed in high resolution (far better than I present on this site), on high-quality paper. The dates include not only U.S. holidays but dates significant to American postal history. And, yes, you can write on it—again, good paper. Thick stuff.

Postlandia Calendar cover:


The cover (and one of the months) features one of my all-time favorite post offices: Milton, Pennsylvania. Heck, I featured it in a blog post back in 2011. But I stopped back to photograph it again earlier this year with far better lighting on the building, and this gem definitely deserves another look.

Delaware: Birth of an Empire


Illinois: A "Great American Post Office"


Texarkana: Two States, one Post Office


As always, there's so much more where these came from. I hope you experience as much enjoyment with this calendar next year as I've enjoyed curating it. Remember—I've trekked to thousands of post offices (I'm presently just shy of 10,000) so I can bring you some of the very best, anywhere.

I refuse to sell advertising on any website I manage or any product I manage, so this is the only way I make even a modicum of money from this hobby. It really does make a dent in my gas money bills, so I want to thank everyone who purchases a calendar for your support.

Again, the link to the calendar is [removed]. I've always said that this is the perfect gift for the special USPS employee or snail mail enthusiast in your life; a wonderful purchase for philatelist and stamp collectors; and generally speaking, just the perfect post office calendar. The calendar is available [link removed], at the secure website of the high-quality printer Lulu. Everyone I know who's purchased either the 2017, the 2018, or the 2019 Postlandia post office calendar has loved it!

BONUS!!

I'm a huge fan of FDR-era (1933-1942) post offices, more than 1,000 of which house beautiful examples of New Deal artwork. Last year I introduced a second calendar that overlaps somewhat with our postal fandom, and this year I'm bringing it back: [retired link] New Deal Legacy: 2020!

It features a bit of postal goodness from the FDR era, but goes way beyond to highlight some of the myriad of accomplishments put forth by various New Deal agencies across the country, including the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Public Works Administration (PWA), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

Again, each image in the calendar is accompanied by a full description of exactly what's going on.

2020 New Deal Legacy Calendar cover:


The projects...

Louisiana: Deco Justice


New Mexico: Desert Pride


Colorado: The High Road


The high-resolution images include the stories that make each one image significant. They are printed on thick, high-quality paper and will hold up to all of your writing-on-your-calendar needs. Just as with the Postlandia calendar, these span the country. There's something for everyone. Here is the combined link to my author's page that will lead you to both the the Postlandia and New Deal Legacy 2020 calendars.

Thank you for your continued support.
Evan

Postally Puerto Rico

Several have gotten me thinking about the U.S. Post Offices on Puerto Rico lately... 1. The island has been in the news of late. 2. The Living New Deal has been adding some great photos and information about F.D.R.'s impact on the island by way of the work of various New Deal agencies. 3. When writing this Postlandia entry last month ranking U.S. states by number of active post offices, I had to manually de- and re-sort Puerto Rico since the territory outranked three states. 4. Our friend Jimmy Emerson, DVM, having visited all 50 states, recently snagged a few photos from the island. 5. Now I can show you some awesome photos of Puerto Rican New Deal post offices scanned at the National Archives!

Let's play a game we're calling Basic Postal Q&A: Puerto Rico Edition!

1. Are post offices on Puerto Rico U.S. Post Offices?
   Absolutely! USPS operates the post offices in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other U.S. territories such as Guam and American Samoa in the Pacific Ocean. They're just like any other post office and standard postal rates are exactly the same as they are for anywhere else in the country.
2. What's the USPS organizational structure for Puerto Rico?
   The Caribbean District, under USPS's Northeast Area, oversees postal operations on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
3. Where is their mail processed?
   All Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands mail is processed through the San Juan Processing and Distribution Center, also home to the San Juan Main Post Office and Caribbean District offices: 585 Ave. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, San Juan, PR.
   It's responsible for ZIP code blocks 005-007 and 009 (P.R.) and 008 (V.I.).
4. How many post offices are in Puerto Rico?
   As of January 2017 Puerto Rico has 118 active post offices and 13 Contract Postal Units (CPUs). Most facilities are independent [main] post offices. There are just two (POStPlan) Remotely Managed Post Offices (RMPOs) on the island, and no Part-Time Post Offices (PTPOs). There are 21 classified (USPS-staffed) stations and seven classified branches, many of which center around San Juan.
5. Have you spent way too long examining any largely dull and random resources while researching this entry?
   You know it! Check out this document by USPS's Address Management Systems Office: Postal Addressing Standards for Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. You only live once.

That seems good for now. So where can you see some pictures? Your first stop should always be the PMCC Online Post Office Photo Collection: Puerto Rico page. We're presently nearing 27,000 photos, of which 54 are from Puerto Rico. So we've presently got a bit shy of half the island covered.

The National Archives has a few Treasury Department photos of completed post office construction in Puerto Rico.

Ponce:
Now the Atocha Station post office, what had been Ponce's main post office was completed in April 1933, meaning construction was begun under the Hoover administration and completed soon after F.D.R. took office.



Mayagüez
Completed in 1937, the F.D.R.-era Mayagüez post office is the only one in Puerto Rico for which New Deal artwork was created. In fact, the post office houses two murals, which were installed in 1940. Titled "The Indian Mail System" and “Receipt of First Official Spanish Mail in the Island of Puerto Rico in 1541,″ the works were painted by Jose A. Maduro. You can see photos taken in 2017 of the post office and the artwork, courtesy Jimmy Emerson, in this album.

The following photos were taken in 1937 and 2000. The latter picture was taken by Postlandia friend John Gallagher.




Here's the building's entry on Living New Deal.

San Juan

Perhaps the most spectacular post office facility in Puerto Rico is [what is now known as] the Jose V. Toledo Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Juan. You can read more about the building's history at Living New Deal here. The facility was originally constructed in 1914, with its iconic towering addition built in 1940. While primary mail processing operations have been relocated, a postal station: the Old San Juan Station, is still housed in the historic facility.



Adiós por ahora!