End of An Era for Philadelphia Main Post Office

PHILADELPHIA — An era is passing. It’s time for Philadelphians to say farewell to an old friend where generations of local citizens have conducted postal business for almost three-quarters of a century. The iconic Main Post Office, located at 30th and Market Streets, is closing its doors after 73 years.

The Main Post Office will move to its new quarters at 3000 Chestnut Street (corner of 30th and Chestnut Streets) at 8 a.m. on Monday, September 29, 2008.

Built in 1935, the certified historic building at 2930 Market Street was an innovative and unique postal facility for its time. When erected, it was the only post office in the nation which could be reached by auto, train, boat and autogiro (similar to a helicopter which landed on the roof).

The new, modern facility will offer customers the same postal retail and delivery services and products that were offered at the old location. Post Office box holders will find newer, more modern Post Office boxes at the new building. These customers will be able to keep their Post Office box numbers but will receive new keys attached to a letter they will receive in their boxes. Customers may begin using their new PO box keys on Monday, September 29, 2008.

Friday, September 26, 2008, will be the final day for window services at the 30th and Market Street Post Office. On Saturday, September 27, PO box and caller mail will be available until 12 noon at the 30th and Market Street location. After that time, PO box mail will not be available for pick up until 6 a.m. Monday, September 29, at the new location.

To meet customers’ postal needs during the weekend transition, customers can use the Post Office located in the 30th Street Amtrak Train Station. Their hours are:

Saturday, September 27
8 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Sunday, September 28
11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Beginning Monday, September 29, window service hours at the new location will be:

Monday – Saturday
8 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Sunday
11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

There will be limited, 20-minute customer parking at the new facility along Chestnut Street.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation — 146 million homes and businesses. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.