Three post offices in St. Mary’s County and two in Charles County are on a list of about 3,700 slated for closure by the U.S. Postal Service. The list released Wednesday is part of an aggressive move by the postal service to save money due to declining postal usage.
The post offices in Southern Maryland that are slated for closing are:
· Abell, St. Mary’s County – 20606
· Drayden, St. Mary’s County – 20630
· Helen, St. Mary’s County – 20635
· Faulkner, Charles County – 20632
· Ironsides, Charles County – 20643
In all, 42 post offices in Maryland are on the closure list.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said that most of the post offices under review for closure bring in less than $27,500 a year and have only enough customers to justify being open several hours a day.
Donahoe is proposing to shift some services now available at post offices to private entities such as drug, grocery and convenience stores He called that the “Village Post Office” concept.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D: 5th) announced Friday that an earlier move to close the Charlotte Hall Post Office had been derailed. During a public meeting on that proposal, a post office representative said that closure of the Patuxent River Post Office was also being considered, although that post office was not on the list released yesterday.
