In October 2024 I got the opportunity to tour the inside of the Mankato, Minnesota post office -- and former court house! Closed since 2015 and now privately owned this beautiful building on 401 S. 2nd Street opened in 1896. It served the local community for over one hundred years as a postal facility and will be repurposed in the next few years as a boutique hotel, restaurant and event space.
Sleeping over in a post office? Sign me up!
Designed in the late 19th Century by Willoughby J. Edbrooke, the building was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, known for its robust stone construction, rounded arches, and intricate detailing. In 1980, the Mankato post office was added to the National Register of Historic Places due to its architectural significance and role in the community's history. In 2015 due to decrease in demand and a variety of other reasons, the property was sold. Thank you to Jessie and Jamie for the tour of the facility. It was awesome to hear about how the space will be rejuvenated and enjoyed for years to come, still.
The original building was expanded in the 1930s for more capacity -- remember when our post offices needed more space, instead of saving? -- and on our tour it was cool to see how the mail sorting room had been re-jigged as a (rough) events space. Up against the space, all along the back wall of the building were numbered gates where the mail trucks would have backed up to receive their mail for delivery.
It's amazing to think of the thousands if not millions of letters that went through that post office since the 1890s right up to less than a decade ago!
Just one of the many interesting features of the building and back in that former mail sorting room, were the intact auditing tunnels. These tunnels were designed and used to help prevent mail fraud.
The inspector would have walked in the darkened tunnel looking out the one-way windows and listening to conversations below through holes positioned above sorting stations. The completely dark tunnels have ropes suspended with knots which told the inspectors when to bend down to avoid a low hanging pipe!
Another interesting element of the building? The (retired) Post Office (or P.O.) boxes! Over the years, P.O. boxes have become a familiar feature of post office lobbies. Individuals can rent a P.O. box to receive mail rather than at a home or business address. P.O. boxes were introduced in the 19th century and became popular in areas with 'limited' home delivery. Such as rural communities not unlike the area this post office would have serviced. The earliest P.O. boxes were often made of wood with simple locks. Over time, they evolved into more secure metal boxes with combination locks or key access.
As the U.S. Postal Service expanded in the late 1800s and early 1900s, post offices began installing larger banks of P.O. boxes in their lobbies to accommodate the growing demand for reliable and private mail delivery options, like these P.O. boxes still in the wall at the Mankato Post Office. Interestingly when the building was retired the owners wanted to keep the P.O. boxes but because they were postal service property a compromise was struck: the boxes could remain without the locks.
I even got to see the original postmaster's office! Complete with a partition door. It was a mail nerd's dream to explore the Mankato Post Office and see all the little details.
The marble building is now empty but will some day be full of life and community once again. So while it's sad to see another post office become history it's exciting to think about how this place will be reimagined as the story of the post office continues!
If you're interested in learning more about post offices and the fascinating history behind mail in America check out 'Who's Got Mail? The History of Mail in America'.
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