Monday, February 14, 2011

P.O. Box

What do you get when the post office is the size of a postage stamp?

The Ochopee, Florida post office, officially the smallest working post office in the country.

The historical marker located on the property states that the 7x8 foot building was "formerly an irrigation pump shed belonging to the J.T. Gaunt Company tomato farm."  It was pressed into service in 1933 by the postmaster when a fire destroyed the Ochopee General Store and Post Office.

wOchopee_postoffice

The little building has been in continuous service ever since serving as both a post office and a ticket station for the Trailways Bus lines.  It is located near the town of Ochopee which sits on the edge of the Everglades and reportedly has a population of 11.  (Sounds a lot like my blog readership.)


wOchoppe_hours

However don't let that small population fool you, the carrier who delivers mail from this tiny post office has a route that is 132 miles long and stretches across three counties.

wOchopee_marker

The current clerk keeps a stack of Ochopee Post Office post cards  on her counter, pre-stamped and ready for when the tour buses pull up.  And pull up they do, in fact there was one there on Sunday afternoon.


wOchoppe_2

And there you have it.  You now know everything you ever wanted to know about the smallest post office in the United States.  You can thank me later.

P.S.  Happy Valentines Day.

P.P. S.  Link to Project 365

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