*Originally published on another blog of mine, Miscellaneous Notes, now republished here with slight edits and modifications*

FEATURING — Martin Luther King; General Post Office Building

Today I again went on a postal trip across town — its destination? USPS’s Martin Luther King Jr. station, a short distance to the northeast of the White House. On my way back I stopped at the General Post Office Building, the Post Office Department’s 5th DC headquarters in operation from 1841 to 1899. Frankly they aren’t the most impressive of postal facilities, but I’m glad still to cross two addresses off my list.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Station

This station has a great location on the northwestern corner of Franklin Park, one of the most charming urban greens I’ve ever visited. The building in which it sits, however, is quite unassuming, much like the post office housed within. As a matter of fact, when I walked up to its somewhat opaque glass doors, for a second I almost thought the office was abandoned. The station was quiet, and I don’t even think I saw any clerk behind its counters. 

Thankfully the station’s history is more fun than its aesthetic appearance. Although I could not ascertain when this branch earned its reverable name, MLK has always been a highly respected figure within the postal workforce, and those highlights of his life immortalized in stamps (such as those earlier designs bearing his image, or the more recent Forever stamp commemorating his 1963 March on Washington), names of more than one post office (there’s one more in Houston, Texas) and a federal holiday that postal labor unions still hold very dear.

I also found a highly entertaining article by Justin Moyer, who was on his own DC post office streak some 14 years ago and seems to have had a personal vendetta against the MLK station and its terribly inefficient and humorless clerks. As usual I went there only to take pictures and deposit an envelope, so couldn’t attest to any potential improvement in the branch’s customer services, but I’m sure there must have been some — Justin talks about long lines and annoyed patrons, two things that have since disappeared thanks to a decline in postal demand, which must have taken some stress of our diligent postal clerks, and hence improved their mood greatly.

The General Post Office Building

Not to be confused with the Old Post Office Building, the New Post Office Building at Federal Triangle, or the New Post Office Building next to Union Station (by God the creativity of these people), the General Post Office Building stands across from the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Capital One Arena, and now houses the Kimpton Hotel Monaco. It was one of the first public buildings in DC to have gas heating and central power, and the facade underwent some renovations in the early 2000s — the many chimneys are gone, and I’m almost certain the portico was a later addition.

Like with the Waldorf-Astoria I went inside and struck up a conversation with the friendly receptionist, who, to my regret, told me that there is absolutely nothing left behind that would remind me of the building’s postal past — the interior has been thoroughly reworked, the telegraph room converted into a ballroom, and all its equipments removed. For all future postal enthusiasts, you need not go inside.