Taste of Portland [Maine]

Mid-2011 once again finds Portland, ME's Station A targeted for closure. The office was first slated on the Consolidation Hit List, and has been named on USPS's new Village Post Office Study List.

(I should really get on that huge news soon, shouldn't I? You've read about it, I'm sure. I do have some insight and inside info.)

In any case, this Going Postal blogger teamed up with two juggernauts of post office visits and postmark collecting to visit post offices on the shores and some islands of Maine: ferries and all. Add yet more posts to pend.

For now, I'll present the stations of Portland, Maine:

First, the Main Office:



Yet another beautiful office from the '30s. Adjacent is the facility that comprises the Maine District Office [the Maine Office, next to the main office?], which is responsible for post offices of all northern New England: Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

The Portland Main Post Office, Station A, and Downtown Station are unusually close: a trip encompassing all three offices can be accomplished with 0.9 miles of total travel:


View Larger Map

Station A is about 2,000 feet from the Main Post Office, and the Downtown Station is about half a mile from Station A.

Now, onto pictures!

Portland, ME: Station A


Portland, ME: Downtown Station


Portland, ME: JET Video CPU


The Downtown Station is part of a building and open area known as Post Office Square. There's also a nearby Post Office Plaza. JET Video is northwest of downtown, and features a video store, ice cream counter, and the CPU. It's actually near a second, nondescript CPU in a Rite Aid -- the second I've been to in such a setting. (The first being the Whitestone CPU in Queens, NY.)

DPO'd: Newark, NJ

The inevitable has finally happened: the two 'Hit List' post offices in Newark were discontinued July 1, as per yesterday's Postal Bulletin. One was the Washington Park Station, which I documented in this Going Postal entry back in May. It's a shame, but honestly not surprising; that post office was open just four hours a day [11-3], and didn't serve any immediate residential or commercial community.

The other discontinued station was Riverfront Plaza, which was housed on the first floor of a large office tower. I walked to Riverfront and the Midtown Station post offices once I discovered that my car had been towed in downtown Newark. That's a story I can explain later.

Here's the office tower from afar.



Below is the Riverfront Plaza post office. I was cautious due to a security station and cameras around, but no one saw me take the photo. I'm glad I got it as no one else will be able to henceforth!



There was suitable traffic at this location, which will now be squeezed and distributed amongst the Midtown Station and the Newark Main Post Office.

Speaking of the Newark Main Post Office, my car was towed as I debated for 40 minutes with the Newark Postal Police Division whether or not they could confiscate my camera / memory card for taking photos of the exterior of the building, from public property. 30-year Postal Police veterans, they were rather adamant about their position but the answer came back that no, you CANNOT confiscate someone's film without cause. They told me that I might be confronted by U.S. Marshals (the building does double as a courthouse, after all), but while I was actively sighted from one angle I was not further hassled.

In any case, if you Google hard enough you'll find some views of the place. Actually, you don't even have to look very hard: Street View has a really nice up-close look at it! And if it's legal for Google to publish then it's legal for me. So now, you can look HERE and find two photos as well! What a grand building, isn't it?

Going Postal Goes First-Day

The author has had the pleasure of attending two USPS First-Day stamp issuing ceremonies in the New York area during the past month.

Pioneers of American Industrial Design: June 29, 2011
Held at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, near the Guggenheim in Manhattan, this elegant set of 12 stamps commemorates 12 giants of industrial design. The ceremony was attended by many relatives and descendants of the designers featured.

Here I am answering a call:


Afterward I finished up my visits to all the post offices of Manhattan south of 110th Street. My friend, a Linn's Stamp News editor, got his First-Day program covers cross-canceled at Macy's to validate that these were obtained in New York, and not in Kansas City.

U.S. Merchant Marine: July 28, 2011
This set of four Forever stamps was issued at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. The Kings Point post office was discontinued in May 2009, but continues as a private mailroom. The Academy's mail is handled by the Great Neck post office. Still listed on USPS's Post Office Locator tool, the 'post office' for Kings Point is listed as being at Great Neck's Old Village Station. There is no Kings Point postmark available. The ceremony's First-Day cancel stated Great Neck, and the ceremony was run by New York's Triboro District -- even though it is, indeed, slightly beyond the geographic confines of New York City.

The audience was regaled by musical performances by the USMMA Regimental Band, which is composed solely of USMMA Midshipmen. Here are the Colors:



David Cochrane detailed a history of USMMA ships and their contributions to wartime supply and peacetime transportation efforts. A USMMA pin was presented to stamp artist Dennis Lyall by the Honorable David T. Matsuda.

Below: The unveiling of the stamps. Left to right, visible: James Cochrane, VP: Product Information, USPS; USMMA Midshipman, Captain Laurellee Kopras; the Honorable David T. Matsuda, U.S. Maritime Administration.



Below: Prof. Joshua M. Smith, Interim Director of the American Merchant Marine Museum [which I visited afterward; it is pretty interesting, and on the Kings Point grounds!] noted some of the connections between the U.S. Merchant Marines and American postal development. For example, merchant mariners informed Ben Franklin of the Gulf Stream; by charting it, Franklin was able to expedite mail service across the Atlantic.

He looks like a comedian in this photo. His speech was quite engaging.



A Great Neck Plaza Village Trustee announced that its Mayor had declared July 28, 2011 to be U.S. Maritime Heritage Day.

Afterward was a program-signing ceremony by the speakers. The guys were all really friendly and fun to chat with!



Philatelic services and stamp sales were provided by a table outside the auditorium. The Flushing Mobile Unit, a "Post Office on Wheels" that is often found on Flushing's Main Street and Queens Boulevard, provided additional sales support. It even had its own postmark, and I got my programs cross-canceled there.

Here is the Flushing mobile post office:

DPO'd: Freehold, NJ Postal Trailer

I was a little struck by this USPS Local News announcement published a couple of months back: Freehold Lafayette Postal Trailer will be closing. Set to close next Friday, July 29, I had to head down to Jersey to check it out.

Fortunately, the author had to head from New York to Philadelphia earlier this week to check out some apartments, and so had an excuse to spend a couple of days racking up more New Jersey post office visits. I learned a lot and got a couple of fantastic stories, some of which will be set forth in future GP entries.

Freehold is a township of nearly 35,000. I first visited its main post office, pictured below. Its architecture was relatively interesting, considering its blandness. It's located in a large shopping area west of the center of town. The office had many clerk stations, but only two were open. Neither clerk knew philatelic regulations and she who I had to deal with had a notable and condescending attitude. Fortunately, the supervisor approved a standard postmark request and I was on my way to check out the postal trailer.

Freehold, NJ MPO:


The postal trailer is where a main post office should be: in the center of town. Unfortunately, the trip from this location to what will be the only Freehold post office requires crossing two major north-south arteries and makes for an obnoxiously long commute, considering it's "only" a 2.4-mile drive. I didn't quite know what to expect, but it's literally a large trailer, specially made for USPS, plopped in the middle of a parking lot. Interesting.

There are two ramps along either long side of the trailer -- one for employees and one for patrons and box-holders. Banners hung on those sides stated: "Freehold Boro Temporary Post Office" and "Welcome to the Temporary Post Office in Freehold Boro". The front states the hours of operations: M-F 8:30 to 4:30; Sat. 9:00 to 1:00. Here's the USPS listing.

That temporary operation, Lafayette Station (as it's located at 13 Lafayette Street), has been in place for 8 years. Previously, downtown Freehold postal operations were handled by a CPU (date of closure unknown to the Post Mark Collectors Club). I think a new CPU would be apt for this location, but who knows? Let's get to photos already!

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Freehold, NJ: 'Lafayette' Postal Trailer; customer entrance side

Inside, the experience was more pleasant than Freehold Main: the clerk was friendly and readily gave me a postmark. The dater used at the trailer is identical to the one used at the Main Post Office, so it wasn't so exciting; still, it's something. The trailer is a full-fledged post office: There are hundreds of PO Boxes and two window stations operating the standard USPS POS (Point of Sale) computer retail system. I was curious how the hard-wired machines were set up, so I bought $1 of stamps to get a receipt, which states "Freehold Downtown Station".

As in most instances, I find this closure to be disappointing. Three teenagers had just walked over to buy $60 of stamps for their mother, and there were two other people using the office while I was at the facility.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Sometimes, it's unfortunate what the weather conditions are when you're on the road hunting down a nice four-bar cancellation in some obscure part of the country. So, here are some of my post office photos that have never seen the light of day, partly because the light of day was obscured under torrential downpours of rain at the time.

1. Counce and Pickwick Dam, TN:
I stayed the night at the Pickwick Dam State Park. I also remember leaving that hotel just after 09/09/09 09:09:09! The Pickwick Dam post office has tons of P.O. boxes and a new PMR who was wary of postmark collecting. Of course, it was his first week and he'll probably not see another collector for another 20 years. Fortunately, the Postmaster at Counce (just a mile away) helped out, and I got both postmarks. Let's have a look at those victorious photos.





It was really not possible to open that back window without enabling the backseat of my car to subsequently become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Later that day I visited plenty of nice Tennessee post offices, including Shiloh -- of the Shiloh Civil War battlefield.

2. Kissimmee, FL: Oak Street Station:
I spent the 15 minutes I spent in line at this office regretting walking outside in this mess. Among the worst rain I've seen. Which means I really had to protect my cancellation collection under my jacket. That's Florida for ya!



3. La Push, Washington:
Ah, this was a fun one. As with Neah Bay, Washington, the trek to this post office was 16 miles one way to the shoreline and post office, and 16 miles along the same route back to Forks. (If these names sound remotely familiar, think the popular tween Twilight series.) Only 16 miles? Sounds good to me!

When driving cross-country I had wanted to either set foot in the Pacific Ocean at Neah Bay (too dark) or here in La Push. Unfortunately the rain was completely horizontal and I couldn't open the car window a mere crack without getting drenched. Eventually, I found the post office (and lovely Postmaster) and snagged this photo.