This is a quick post for listeners of WNPR's fantastic Colin McEnroe Show, which aired an hourlong postal-themed episode this afternoon. Thank you for reaching out and having me on the show! Here are a couple of references for Connecticut visitors:
Find more than 400 photos of Connecticut post offices on the Post Mark Collectors Club (PMCC) website, link here. Here is more information about the archive project. Furthermore, The Living New Deal features photos and information specifically about New Deal post office projects.
Here are some previous Postlandia entries related to Connecticut post offices!
This link will take you right to the 2018 Postlandia calendar, available now. You can read more about it (and see a couple of images) in our prior post.
Follow Postlandia on Facebook! We've got an Instagram account as well.
Showing posts with label media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label media. Show all posts
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Monday, December 19, 2011
Behind the BBC: Ladiesburg, MD
Welcome, BBC viewers / web-watchers!
When my NPR radio segment aired a month ago, I was approached by the BBC and challenged to find them a quaint little post office in the general D.C. area. They would interview me there, show me getting a local postmark, and film a bit of bantering with the Postmaster. I chose Ladiesburg, Maryland, a town NNE of Frederick and an hour and a half outside D.C. Its post office is one of 42 in Maryland that could be closed in the near future as part of the RAOI "Expanded Access" initiative. While I hadn't been inside, I had passed by the building late on a Saturday so I knew it was quaint, and I also knew the Postmaster was friendly and familiar with the history of the town.
Fortunately, permission to film was granted and we were set for a Tuesday. I drove down from Philly to Silver Spring and stayed with family friends the night before.
Let's get a geographic fix; you can pan and zoom out within this map to get a better sense of scale for the area:
In the corner of a house, the Ladiesburg post office represents the last business in this small Maryland town. There are tracks behind the building and the town used to have a station, a general store, and several other goodies. Now, the post office is all that's standing between Ladiesburg's present stature as a community and a happenstance cluster of houses.
The official local story has it that the first eight residents of the town included seven women alongside one man. Hence, Ladiesburg! I love origin stories such as this, and if you don't know a local historian, the Postmaster can be your best bet to discover how a town got its name.
Let's look at some pictures!
Ladiesburg, MD post office
The hand-stenciled sign:
Yours truly having the honors of postmarking my cards (and thus making USPS some free revenue) -- technically, and this is in the Postal Operations Manual, one can be allowed to handle a postmarking device if it's under the supervision of authorized personnel:
A slightly disheveled me with Postmaster John T. ("Tom") Chuvala. This was at the end of the media session, which lasted two hours. Somehow I was still energetic after four hours' sleep, though I think here I was too exhausted to smile fully!
The Ladiesburg post office is open 8 - 12 Monday through Saturday. Postmaster Tom has headed the office since 2006. On Saturdays his Postmaster Relief (PMR) fills in. Both are veterans; as Postmasters they are continuing their service to their communities and toward binding the country together.
Two miles down the road lies the town of New Midway, another morning-only office that's under study for closure as part of RAOI. Here I found another photogenic office along with a wonderful Postmaster and some unique P.O. Boxes whose manufacturer I have never seen before.
New Midway, MD post office; taken on a sunnier day:
New Midway featured a train station as well, and this office is right alongside the tracks. Across the street is, of all things, a piano shop. [Link: Kramer's Piano Shop.] How cool is that? It's something I definitely hadn't expected to see in such a small town. The local elementary school is here as well.
Hope you enjoyed this small slice of America.
When my NPR radio segment aired a month ago, I was approached by the BBC and challenged to find them a quaint little post office in the general D.C. area. They would interview me there, show me getting a local postmark, and film a bit of bantering with the Postmaster. I chose Ladiesburg, Maryland, a town NNE of Frederick and an hour and a half outside D.C. Its post office is one of 42 in Maryland that could be closed in the near future as part of the RAOI "Expanded Access" initiative. While I hadn't been inside, I had passed by the building late on a Saturday so I knew it was quaint, and I also knew the Postmaster was friendly and familiar with the history of the town.
Fortunately, permission to film was granted and we were set for a Tuesday. I drove down from Philly to Silver Spring and stayed with family friends the night before.
Let's get a geographic fix; you can pan and zoom out within this map to get a better sense of scale for the area:
In the corner of a house, the Ladiesburg post office represents the last business in this small Maryland town. There are tracks behind the building and the town used to have a station, a general store, and several other goodies. Now, the post office is all that's standing between Ladiesburg's present stature as a community and a happenstance cluster of houses.
The official local story has it that the first eight residents of the town included seven women alongside one man. Hence, Ladiesburg! I love origin stories such as this, and if you don't know a local historian, the Postmaster can be your best bet to discover how a town got its name.
Let's look at some pictures!
Ladiesburg, MD post office
The hand-stenciled sign:
Yours truly having the honors of postmarking my cards (and thus making USPS some free revenue) -- technically, and this is in the Postal Operations Manual, one can be allowed to handle a postmarking device if it's under the supervision of authorized personnel:
A slightly disheveled me with Postmaster John T. ("Tom") Chuvala. This was at the end of the media session, which lasted two hours. Somehow I was still energetic after four hours' sleep, though I think here I was too exhausted to smile fully!
The Ladiesburg post office is open 8 - 12 Monday through Saturday. Postmaster Tom has headed the office since 2006. On Saturdays his Postmaster Relief (PMR) fills in. Both are veterans; as Postmasters they are continuing their service to their communities and toward binding the country together.
Two miles down the road lies the town of New Midway, another morning-only office that's under study for closure as part of RAOI. Here I found another photogenic office along with a wonderful Postmaster and some unique P.O. Boxes whose manufacturer I have never seen before.
New Midway, MD post office; taken on a sunnier day:
New Midway featured a train station as well, and this office is right alongside the tracks. Across the street is, of all things, a piano shop. [Link: Kramer's Piano Shop.] How cool is that? It's something I definitely hadn't expected to see in such a small town. The local elementary school is here as well.
Hope you enjoyed this small slice of America.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)