Palm Harbor Post Offices Not on U.S. Postal Service Review List

You can't help but smile when you drive by them, they're just so darned cute. Located in the laid-back, eclectic waterfront communities of Ozona and Crystal Beach, these charming little post offices exude small-town charm inside and out.

On Tuesday, the workers inside had extra reason for the chipper smiles; the teeny-tiny and post offices -and all other Palm Harbor post offices- did not make the feared list.

The list consists of more than 3,600 U.S. Postal Service (USPS) branches around the country that are scheduled to be reviewed by the postal service to decide which ones to close.

"I'm relieved, very much relieved," said Linda Hagan, Officer in Charge at the Ozona Post Office. Hagan says the economy and all the recent changes at the USPS made her worry that her post office might close, "You never know," she said. 

Hagan and one other person work inside the 1064 Sq. Ft. post office. They also have one mail truck and a driver who delivers mail to nearby homes. Many other residents in Ozona choose to have their mail delivered to a P.O. box inside the tiny post office.

Hagan has been working at the post office for eleven years and says she loves the small town feel and her customers. "I know everybody in here, I know everybody's box number. I've seen the mother's come in pregnant, I've seen those babies growing up and they're going to school now.  I would like to be here forever, hopefully we will be."

In neighboring Crystal Beach, the post office appears to be equally tiny with room for only three parking spaces out front. None of the residents in Crystal Beach have mailboxes outside their homes and there is no mail delivery. Residents pick up their mail at a complimentary P.O. box inside their homey little post office, and they appear to really like it that way.

These tiny Palm Harbor post offices appear to be bucking the national trend. A spokeswoman for the USPS in St. Louis told Patch the study covers retail (branches) only, and stressed that delivery is not under review.

“Customers have shown us that they no longer need a brick-and-mortar post office,” Valerie Hughes, USPS spokeswoman, said. She pointed to the USPS’s automated postal centers, mobile apps and online services and as well as retailers that sell postage. Hughes said the USPS has seen a decline in post office visits that amounts to 200 million over the past five years.

Postmaster Patrick Donahoe referred to evolving customer behavior in making Tuesday’s announcement.

“Today, more than 35 percent of the Postal Service's retail revenue comes from expanded access locations such as grocery stores, drug stores, office supply stores, retail chains, self-service kiosks, ATMs and usps.com, open 24/7," Donahoe said in a statement to the media. "Our customer's habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business."

The review process does not mean closure is a sure thing. The Huffington Post reports the USPS announced a review of 1,400 offices in January, but has closed only 280 of those so far and spared another 200.

According to an article from UPI, the closure review covers about 11 percent of post offices around the country. There are more than 31,000 in all.