Road Trip 2012: Chapter 2; I-81

The Travelodge in Chambersburg, PA hosted my first evening of my trip. It was rather uneventful, though I enjoyed the breakfast voucher for the diner next door. My initial intent was to spend the night in Winchester, VA, but so long as I ended up in Roanoke that evening I'd be happy.

Now, onto post offices:
Heading to the post office in Falling Waters, WV, a former site -- now an ice cream shop -- made itself immediately apparent. Not many dairy stores possess a flagpole, have a rear loading dock, and make extensive efforts to abide by the ADA:


Here's the present site:


From Falling Waters I'd visited every post office south for 50 miles, and I eventually found myself along Route 11 paralleling I-81 and Shenandoah National Park. Here's a map of some locations featured:


The post office in Woodstock is still at its historic 1933 location. It featured beautiful roof tiling and pinkish-hued brick grout.

Woodstock, VA post office:




A detour to the western mountains lead to Bayse and Orkney Springs. The former location has one of the longest handicapped ramps I've seen.

Bayse, VA post office


A couple of miles down the road, Orkney Springs was on the RAOI 'Hit List' and is slated to become a two-hour office. The Postmaster was really friendly and introduced me to the town. It hosts The Virginia House (Shrine Mont), at which all the bigwigs stayed in the early 20th century.

Orkney Springs, VA post office


The post office used to be located in this house:


This is the old resort, a recognized National Historic location:


Next up was Fulks Run, near a formation known as Chimney Rock (not the Chimney Rock in North Carolina!). The PO in Criders was on the Hit List last year so I drove the 15-or-so miles one way and back, through Bergton -- rather small itself -- to find it.

Bergton, VA post office:


Criders, VA post office


The old collection box at Criders is the oldest I've ever seen. Peering under the bottom you can see that it was manufactured in 1924. It was forged in Danville, PA.


Two offices later was post office #3,500: Timberville, VA.



Another photogenic office was Lacey Spring, VA:


Woodrum Station in downtown Staunton, VA, is a New Deal post office from 1935. The site has been renovated and the post office operates only the right half of the first floor; the New Deal sculpture is outside the door.



Night two was spent in Salem, VA, outside Roanoke.

On the Road: Going Postal 2012, Day I

Howdy, folks! Evan here in western North Carolina, where the hills are smoky and the folks are really friendly. I've been on the road since last Sunday and have already visited 153 post offices, large and small. This trip will take me all around the country and I'm excited to show you what I've seen! Especially with my brand new 30x-optical zoom, 18-megapixel, high dynamic range-enabled Sony camera.

(No, the trip is not just about post offices. It's about experiencing America -- ballparks, cities, national parks, farmlands, and good local food. That said, since the rate of post office suspensions will only continue to accelerate courtesy POSt"Plan", post offices still need to be documented and Postmaster stories collected.)

Where to begin? Well, the first office on the trip was the... err... illustrious Dover, NJ Carrier Annex off I-80:


When I was in middle school my family took a trip to Chicago, and one of our first stops was the post office in Buttzville, NJ and a great place called Hot Dog Johnny's. The post office was located in a former gas station, and has since been suspended. I recognized the site this time around:

Former site: Buttzville, NJ post office:


Check out Hot Dog Johnny's. Fresh fries, great shakes. It was completely packed.



Beautiful post office of Sunday: Phillipsburg, NJ, built 1933. Amazing brickwork. Check it out:


In Allentown/Bethlehem, PA, I found both the current and former site of the Lehigh Valley post office and P&DC:


The former site is now known as the Airport Branch or Airport Annex of Bethlehem:


After that, a torrential downpour took out most of the potential postal photography time, as these clouds foreshadow:


And that's just day 1! There's plenty more for the next installment of GP 2012.

Signs of the Times

Well, Signs of the Dates to be precise. In exploring the rural post offices of Pennsylvania I came across several offices which, under POSt"Plan", are slated to become two-hour PMR-operated locations. Each was being studied for closure under RAOI last year. Each also has another nice aspect: the sign for the post office tells us just when it was established.

Here's a map of the places featured:


Parryville, PA post office:


The Parryville post office, according to USPS's Leased Facilities Report, has been at 177 Main Street since 1961. I always love the ones that share residence with people's homes. The nice stonework porch leads us to the patriotically colored sign for the post office...


It's a mark of pride to the town that they've had an operating post office since the early 1800s; May 30, 1818 to be precise.


Fisher, PA post office:

Located in a photogenic, hilly corner of PA, Fisher has the longest Saturday hours around: presently 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Yet I still couldn't find my way there the first time I tried to find the town nearly three years ago. I caught up with Fisher one Sunday morning last autumn; the post office is housed with the general store. The sign notes that the location was established August 20, 1860.




Cambra, PA post office:

A house and real estate office share a building with the Cambra post office, which has a fantastic hand-painted sign declaring its date of establishment -- 1822.





Talmage, PA post office:
The thing about this blink-and-you-miss-it post office, located within a mile of the Brownstown P.O., is that you'll probably miss it even while staring right at it. It's located at the side of a house obscured by hedges. The only indications are the pole-mounted collection box -- which looks like you could pick it up and spirit it away (you can't; trust me), and the sign. At least it's a sign with character.




Now this is what I'm talking about: "serving our community".


Jersey Mills, PA post office:
This one was fantastic. Jersey Mills is located in a dispersed string of three post offices along the Pine Creek Gorge northwest of Williamsport; other POs are Waterville and Slate Run. Each was an RAOI office last year. The Jersey Mills location was incredibly photogenic, sandwiched between the main road and a bike trail used by locals and tourists alike. There's a sign facing either line of traffic. And it's a good thing, too, because if it weren't for the sign, you'd just see an ordinary-looking red house with a worn driveway.





Again, gotta love the old-style collection box:

Coasting Along

A friend last week complained that while she's from California, I barely cover any post offices from the West Coast. That's partly because I rarely get the opportunity to head out there! (A situation I hope to soon rectify.) That said, here are some photos from northwestern California from my 2008 jaunt.

Arcata is a college town in Humboldt County (read: lots of weed?). I spent a night there, had some good pizza made by a guy from Brooklyn, and was there in time for a pictorial celebrating the 150th anniversary of the town!

Arcata, California post office:

Here's Bayside. There's a Bayside in Queens, NY, too. Apparently they keep getting a lot of our mail.

Bayside, California post office


Fields Landing was a quaint, small post office (serving an equally small population of not-quite 300 people) with a patriotically colored sign.

Fields Landing, California post office



Loleta, the next town down, is on a road along the train tracks. Unfortunately the view was obstructed by a pickup, but what can you do?

Loleta, California post office


Ferndale was a booming city during the 1880s, and you can find a great shopping street lined with Victorian buildings to this day. The town's got a nice art scene and I picked up something for my mother at an antiques store there. The post office, interestingly enough, possesses one of those old pole-mounted collection boxes!

Ferndale, California post office



Cheers!

Ch-Ch-Changes: Silver Spring and Bethesda, MD

Last week I got to document nearly 100 post offices in and around the D.C. area. Among the finds were several old, new, and recently consolidated facilities.

Silver Spring, MD

Silver Spring, which wraps around the northern corner of Washington, D.C., would be the fourth-largest city in Maryland if it were incorporated. (Although, since hardly anything large besides Baltimore is incorporated in Maryland, it's difficult to make such claims to begin with.)

Here's a map of the postal situation:


I first visited the unincorporated landmass back in 2010 and documented two post offices near its downtown, which includes, among other things, the headquarters for the Discovery Channel. (A massive, multi-story, 3-D shark adorns the building during Shark Week.) The first building served as the Main Post Office although the Postmaster has operated out of a separate carrier facility for some time. The second operation, a finance unit, was rather close by, near the primary Metro stop...

Silver Spring, MD: Main Post Office [now former site]

Silver Spring, MD: Centre Finance Station [now discontinued // former site]

In what was undoubtedly a cost-saving measure, USPS just consolidated both operations into a new "Retail Center" in the corner of a strip mall just a few weeks ago. The location features more parking, but less accessibility to downtown Silver Spring. There goes your lunch break! One would hope that service would be improved by the new modern location, which features four clerk stations. When I had visited them in 2010, there was a long line at the MPO, served by two clerks, and modest lines at the finance station (served by one clerk). Logically, when two postal facilities get consolidated, 2 clerks + 1 clerk = 3 clerks, but that was not the case at the new, pleasantly designed post office, which featured four window stations and -- you guessed it -- two clerks.

(In case you're wondering, this is precisely why I don't trust postal consolidations. Silly math.)

In any case, this is what the new Silver Spring 'Main Post Office' (Retail Center) looks like:


So, that's the story of Silver Spring. Now, let's check out the former former site of the Main Post Office, a stately 1936 WPA design.





Just look at that lovely font!

Bethesda, MD

Bethesda lies just west of Silver Spring, and it too was served by two postal locations. As of the end of May 19th, the Main Post Office was moved and a nearby location discontinued as part of a consolidation into a newer retail facility -- one which, interestingly enough, is smaller than either other facility to begin with. The Bethesda Main Post Office had served since 1937. The WPA structure, replete with fantastic masonry, will now be sold.

Let's have a look at a map and some photos of this now-former site.



Bethesda, MD: Main Post Office [former site]






It was photographing this building when a woman I'd never met came up to me and correctly identified me, making me wonder whether I had some Inspectors on my case. "Yep, that's me. What gave it away?" In actuality it was a friend of my mother's, who knew of my work. That was loads of fun.

Bethesda, MD: Arlington Road Station [now discontinued]


Primarily a carrier facility, this location had a small retail section. A local site reports that the building will be torn down and the site re-developed into a 145-unit mixed-use apartment building.

As of May 21, 2012, this is the new Bethesda, MD Main Post Office:


It was fun to see crews working on freshening up the front of the building. One concern of residents is that parking is highly limited nearby this location.