National Postal Museum - Not Just for Dorks!
Monday, February 23, 2009 at 3:05PM One thing I always enjoy when giving a tour of DC is pointing out the number of "Old Post Offices" we have here. Thanks to grandiose design plans coupled with shifts in postal distribution systems, we are awash in grand old buildings that have been creatively adapted to modern usages. In downtown DC, we have the General Post Office building, built in 1839 by the same architect that designed the Washington Monument, now the excellently redone Hotel Monaco. A few blocks south, we have the iconic Old Post Office, built in 1899 and worthy of a post of it's own in due time. For now, let me say that it's tower is one of the best views in Washington and yes, the food court is in walking distance from the Mall.
Unfortunately for the Old Post Office, shortly after it's completion, the Postal Department took a look at how they distributed mail nationwide and discovered a glaring efficiency gap. Mail was increasingly arriving via train and then being hauled across the city to the main Post Office to be delivered locally. So, as newer, larger train stations were built, the Postal Department (then a Cabinet Department) located the respective city's main post office adjacent to it, removing the need for one more trip with the mail. Take a look at this when you visit a large city; generally there's a fancy post office next to the downtown train station.
So a scant decade after the Old Post Office opened for business, construction began on yet another Post Office, this one creatively named the City Post Office or the Postal Square Building, adjacent to Union Station. Completed in 1914, the building does continue with some postal functions to this day. Notably, come the Christmas shipping rush, those of us that live on Capitol Hill know it as an attractive alternative to the Worst Post Office of All Time. However, with the shift from rail to road, most postal distribution functions have moved to the Brentwood facility in NE DC. In the early '90s, the excess space was converted to two outstanding additions to the local scene: Capitol City Brewing Company and the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but they look boring so I won't talk about them.
As Cap City can do it's own marketing, let me chat a bit about the Postal Museum. Unless you are a die hard stamp collector, this museum probably doesn't catch your eye. Don't fall for that though. I made the acquaintance of the Postal Museum as a stay a home dad one winter when it was too cold to go to the park. As suicide seemed like a cop-out and sliding into insanity like too much work, I found kid-friendly and indoor spaces in DC to be at a premium. The Postal Museum became a regular in the rotation, although to be fair, it's close proximity to Cap City may have helped tilt the scale. It's combination of relative lack of crowds and kid-friendly big trucks and trains make it a great place for little kids to explore. It's Moving the Mail exhibit has a big rig truck kids can climb on and a rail car to explore, as well as some excellent mail planes hanging overhead. And as they get a bit older, Binding the Nation is very much a history of America connecting itself and growing as a nation; a far more interesting way to introduce American history to that bored teenager than another essay in second period. Don't worry, the exhibits go way beyond just stamps to include, I kid you not, a stuffed dog.
Among their permanent exhibits, and as you might expect, they have a first rate stamp collection (ok, ok, I'll call it by it's proper name: Philatelic Galleries) if that's your thing. Including the always amusing "Inverts", which even a stamp philistine like myself recognize. And, if you've already been once, be sure to check on-line before you go to see what the temporary exhibit is. Sometimes they're worth a special trip back if you're in town. While right now, the Museum is jumping on the Lincoln bandwagon, I fondly remember a first rate Titanic exhibition from a few years ago. You know, back when that was the big thing.
So, while I might not make a trip to DC just to see the Postal Museum, if you've got an extra hour and you're near Union Station, I'd recommend a drop in. As of today, it's hours are 10:00 am to 5:30 pm, seven days a week, closed Christmas. And, like just about the rest of the Smithsonian, admission is free.
Reader Comments (2)
No idea why, but my kids love the Postal Museum. They are always begging to go back!
I don't think the buildings were the same thing. One was a post office for the local DC postmaster and the other a post office for the national people.