This PO Will Go

The main post office has been a part of my life since 2006, when I started working at The Emerson School. It takes up a huge swath of land at the northern edge of the Park Blocks, and it sprawls with an assured sense that the postal mail will always be an important part of daily life.

Alas, this is not the case. The mail processing facility has moved out to the airport for better access to the planes and shipping channels. (Though worse access for most employees, probably). And now this entire segment will be redeveloped into some magical bit of mixed-use Portland.

Here’s the view from Northwest Johnson street, where you can see the train station popping up over the mid-century design.

Later, there will be more photos of the front, but you can see where the mail trucks use to pull out for places near and far.

It was once big enough to have an in-house cafe!

2 thoughts on “This PO Will Go”

  1. An in house cafe! Wow!

    How interesting that it has been made redundant. Not surprising, but still interesting. It is of that mid-century government building era that seems less appealing to us now. Kind of clunky and space taking in a not so beautiful way. I will be intrigued to see the mixed use PDXiness to come.

    1. The public facing front is a little fancier, as is the part with the PO boxes and the retail counter. There’s a nice 50s vibe.

      And yes, I’m sad I never ate at the in-house cafe. I thought about it many times, but never prioritized. They also used to have a snack counter in the retail section where people could grab coffee or a candy bar. It used to be run by a blind man. I think he must have retired and someone took over, but there just isn’t the foot traffic to support that.

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