The United States Postal Service:
A Physical Representation of Infrastructure, Community, and Governance
Post Offices in the United States are all built with the same general purpose in mind—the distribution of information and objects. Even with these identical missions, these buildings are a representation of the era and region in which they came into existence, and represent the ideals and aspirations of their time. They serve as local landmarks, community centers, and historical buildings. Vital to the communication infrastructure, yet like other forms of societal substructure, they are often treated as background buildings. However, for many Americans, post offices are the closest they get to interacting with the federal government on a regular basis.
The networks that are a part of daily life are frequently forgotten. From transportation systems, utilities, or the postal service, these pieces of infrastructure are vital for the country to function. For example, the postal service delivers more than just mail; they help with the distribution of food stamps and covid tests, and collect voting ballots. There is an incredible and very in-depth methodology that allows the postal service to function.
The USPS is the largest postal service in the world by geography and volume, processing 47% of all global mail across 31,000 postal offices. It operates the third largest IT infrastructure in the world. Operating under a USO (universal service obligation), the USPS has a legal mandate to provide uniform prices, service, and quality, throughout the country. They are even the best face the federal government has, with a 91% approval rating.
In History
At the turn of the century, it was decided that too much money was being spent on building post offices (Congressmen would request large sums for post offices to be built in the areas they represented to bring in money and jobs). Thus, a new formal classification of post offices was created, which would sort the buildings into four levels by funds collected, and label what materials were allowed to be used in their design. Class A buildings had over $800,000 raised annually, and were based in major urban areas. They would have marble or granite facings, metal frames, full fireproofing, ornamental bronze work, and murals. Class B were labeled as “first class post offices,” included a yearly monetary amount of $60,000-$800,000, and were located in relatively major areas of real estate. These buildings could have limestone or sandstone facing, a wooden frame and interior elements, and iron ornamentation. Class C buildings raised $15,000-$60,000 annually, were allowed to be created out of brick or stone, and had further restrictions on what materials could be used in public spaces. Finally, Class D buildings, which included all post offices that had under $15,000 in yearly income, were to be made of brick, only required the first floor to be fireproofed, and tended to be ordinary buildings located in small towns.
In the late fifties, it was decided that too many of the post offices looked the same. While some appreciated this uniformity (the USPS), the Eisenhower administration wanted change. Working together, it was decided that there would be a standardization of interiors to eight distinct types, and the exteriors would be less regulated (and the USPS provided examples of appropriate exteriors). This compromise was done to create reasonable levels of standardization, while still recognizing the importance of allowing individuality in different contexts and climates. These post offices were referred to as the “thousand series,” and with them came the standardization of walls of letterboxes, a separation between public and private, and a service counter that is still seen in modern post offices.
In 1971, the United States Post Office Department was renamed as the United States Postal Service. The Postal Reorganization Act in the same year brought major changes to the system. The department was allowed to further mechanize their process, collective bargaining for postal workers was legalized, the postmaster general was not longer a part of the presidential cabinet, political patronage was removed, and the USPS was given federal tax subsidies.
Currently, there has been a switch from smaller local post offices, to operating out of larger centralized “Sorting and Delivery” centers. These distribution hubs are located mainly in suburban areas, and around sixty of these “mega plants” are currently being instituted.
Are post offices more than the functions they serve? These buildings last for decades, for even as society changes, post offices still provide the same services. In a way, these buildings are isolated in their own form of time and space. In the older post offices, even with new counters and technology, it can feel like a step back in time, riding the line between past and present.
In the Frascari reading, he speaks about looking at the idea of details as a generator, and how they can be thought of as the smallest units in an architectural design. Considering post offices, their details both create the expected familiarity that allow users to easily understand how to function in the space even if they are unfamiliar with the building, and provide unique characteristics that allow for individuality. Details are repeatedly used by designers to combine function and representation in a visual manner.
Post Offices can truly look like anything. The Thomas P. Costin Jr. Post Office, the Galveston Federal Building, and the Old Post Office are all examples of current post offices that take the user back in time through their use of details and design.
Post Offices are a symbol of governmental power, a representation of individual community, and a vital piece of infrastructure. They all function as a physical demonstration of an invisible hub and network transportation web. Post Offices represent stability, offering connection to rural areas and supporting the populace down to the level of the individual. Through the use of common details that illuminate the expected activities that occur within these spaces, Post Offices are standardized to a level of familiarity. Yet it is also the use of details that takes these consistent buildings and inspires contextual creativity. It is this combination of the expected and the peculiar that allow these structures to reflect the past and the present.