Ultimate Guide: Mail

by Michelle Cassidy

39 Places

St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Petersburg Post Office

A creative deviation in this post office's design was once a source of controversy.

J Ginsberg

Added by J Ginsberg

Morton, Illinois

'Spirit of Communication'

A Depression-era sculpture by Charles Umlauf survives in a small suburban post office.

Added by smfishel

Edinburgh, Scotland

'Center of Edinburgh' Bollard

This mundane post marks the old location of the city's main postal hub.

SEANETTA

Added by SEANETTA

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Saigon Central Post Office

This French colonial post office is arguably the grandest in all of Southeast Asia.

Tony Dunnell

Added by Tony Dunnell

Cashiers, North Carolina

Grimshawes Post Office

This 5-by-6-foot wooden hut is the smallest historic post office in the U.S.

Meg

Rovaniemi, Finland

Santa Claus' Main Post Office

Roughly 17 million letters to Santa have found their way to this Arctic Circle post office.

Chicago, Illinois

Newberry Library Postcard Collection

Rifle through images of skyscrapers, Worlds Fairs, and more in the largest public postcard repository in America.

jessicahester1

Added by jessicahester1

Tintagel, England

Tintagel Post Office

A whimsical cottage from the 1300s with a preserved Victorian-era post office inside.

lewblank

Added by lewblank

Manchester, England

The Undamaged Red Post Box

The small bright red pillar survived the 1996 Manchester bombing virtually unscathed.

Added by MamaGoose

Mossel Bay, South Africa

The Post Office Tree

South Africa's postal service began with a letter left in a boot beneath this tree.

adamrodman

Added by adamrodman

Jerome, Arizona

Abandoned Jerome Post Office

On the outskirts of a reborn ghost town, a decaying post office remembers the bad old days.

Lsdf

Underwater Post Office

The fully functional, submerged Vanuatu Post Office is definitely one of a kind.

bertshetler

Added by bertshetler

The Black Mailbox

Mysterious meeting place for UFO hunters near Area 51.

Added by zackofalltrades

Chicago, Illinois

Englewood Post Office

This modest post office sits on the site of H.H. Holmes' famous murder castle.

Paul Dailing

Added by Paul Dailing

London, England

The Mail Rail

Hidden beneath the streets of London is a secret subway that only carried mail.

Gerard Nolan

Added by Gerard Nolan

Transcontinental Air Mail Route Beacon

This giant tower beacon was a key navigation tool for pilots delivering mail amid the night skies.

dandjtrip

Added by dandjtrip

San Bernardino County, California

The Mojave Desert Mailbox

The most isolated mailbox in America lets desert travelers record their passing.

easydistance

Added by easydistance

Bird Island, North Carolina

Kindred Spirit Mailbox

A mailbox that saved a nature reserve.

atimian

Added by atimian

Taipei City, Taiwan

Leaning Mailboxes

These charming mailboxes became social media stars after a typhoon failed to topple them.

jfrank

Added by jfrank

St. Joseph, Missouri

The Pony Express National Historic Trail and Museum

The fastest mail service in the west is tracked and memorialized along this 1,400 mile trail.

Added by ekoptev

Melbourne, Australia

Mailbox Art Space

Tiny artwork tucked within glass letterboxes form this hidden gem of an art gallery.

Gavin

Glendale, California

Tropico Post Office

Don't bother sending any mail to this ghost town.

Evan Nicole Brown

Added by Evan Nicole Brown

Berlin, Germany

Hatch Sticker Museum

This little museum is making sure that the art and history of the graffiti sticker is not scraped from history.

samsfrank89

Added by samsfrank89

Donald McGill Seaside Postcard Museum

Obscene versions of this artist's work are the most popular.

Henrick

Added by Henrick

Antarctic Exploration Museum & Post Office

The best place to send your postcards home from Antarctica.

Annetta Black

Added by Annetta Black

Eglon, West Virginia

Our Lady of the Pines

This claimant to the title of "smallest church in the 48 states" doubles as an equally tiny, quasi-post office.

unknowndetails

Added by unknowndetails

Mexico City, Mexico

Palacio Postal

Gilded heaven for philatelists and architecture freaks, still in full working order despite sitting atop tremulous ground.

esmetravels

Added by esmetravels

Post Office Bay

Since the 1700s, this old barrel has acted as a post box that relies on the kindness of travelers.

EricGrundhauser

Added by EricGrundhauser

Boys Town, Nebraska

World's Largest Ball of Stamps

An idle pastime becomes a record holder in Boys Town, Nebraska.

Oliver Hong

Added by Oliver Hong

London, England

The Royal Philatelic Collection

The British monarchy's stamp collection is one of the most impressive in all of Europe revealing generations of royal nerdery.

Amy Lewin

Added by Amy Lewin

Museo de Filatelia de Oaxaca

This amazing collection includes rare stamps from around the world, including fluorescent ones.

Mario Yair TS

Added by Mario Yair TS

Museum of Package Culture

Discover the past, present, and future of packaging in this unique Japanese museum.

2banne

Added by 2banne

Salt Lake City, Utah

USPS Remote Encoding Facility

Where unreadable addresses are read, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Josh

Ochopee, Florida

Ochopee Post Office

The smallest post office in the United States is no bigger than a broom closet.

Added by linzy383

Washington, D.C.

Owney the Postal Dog

A traveling postal dog covered 48 states and more than 140,000 miles, and he lives on as taxidermy, patched up with a rabbit's foot and a pig's ear.

Annetta Black

Added by Annetta Black

Singapore Philatelic Museum

Postal archives over 150 years old offer a window into Singapore's culture and tradition.

Added by renakaba

Prague, Czechia

Prague Pneumatic Post

The last municipal pneumatic post system in the world was in operation for over 100 years, and may run again.

Annetta Black

Added by Annetta Black

Tecopa, California

Dumont Dunes North Pole

Peek inside this sandy mailbox and you'll spot kids' letters to Santa.

LukeyLux

Added by LukeyLux

Edinburgh, Scotland

GVIR Post Box

This ordinary-looking mailbox has a rather explosive history.

SEANETTA

Added by SEANETTA