Post Script

Post Script

In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service announced 3,653 rural post offices would close. A disproportionate number of the condemned are located in the South. Several thousand locations have since been added to this list of erasure as the Postal Service struggles to cement its foothold in an increasingly digitized world. The fate of the rural post office remains unclear.

The post office serves as town center in rural communities. Often acting as a town’s sole address, this location embodies the numerical identity of place. Without its presence in the landscape, a ZIP code is lost.

Yet residents remain anchored in place. In spite of post office departure or a vanished code, the home stands. Attachment to land lingers, rooted deeper than digits.
28531
The Postmistress’s Daughter
Harker’s Island, NC
38745
Grace, MS
71327
Cottonport, LA
38669
Postmistress Ida
Sherard, MS
29923
Gifford, SC
71316
David at the Old Post Office
Acme, LA
39854
Georgetown, GA
29923
Gifford, SC
38765
Panther Burn, MS
75152
Sherrill, AR
38839
John
Derma, MS
38765
Panther Burn, MS
71603
Pastoria, AR
71603
Pastoria, AR
39079
Goodman, MS
38630
Farrell, MS
39079
Goodman, MS
71316
Postmistress Sandra
Acme, LA
70782
Tunica, LA
29932
Luray, SC
35052
Cook Springs, AL
24962
Pence Springs, WV
41307
Old Post Office
Athol, KY
24974
Old Post Office
Second Creek, WV
24322
Cripple Creek, VA
41604
Beaver, KY
24316
Broadford, VA
24601
Postmaster Jack
Amonate, VA
24602
Bandy, VA