A discontinued post office or DPO is an American postal term for a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

which is no longer in service or is in service under another name. Some are in

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

s, some victims of consolidation of mail service as small post offices are closed or a city expands. The introduction of

Rural Free Delivery Rural Free Delivery (RFD) was a program of the United States Post Office Department that began in the late 19th century to deliver mail directly to rural destinations. Previously, individuals living in remote homesteads had to pick up mail themsel ...

, RFD, in 1902 led to the closure of many post offices, which peaked in 1901 at 76,945. In the United States, which was mostly rural, mail previously had been picked up in rural areas at small local post offices, home delivery being limited to urban areas until experimentation with rural delivery began in 1890. Covers, that is letters, wrappers, or

postmark A postmark is a postal marking made on an envelope, parcel, postcard or the like, indicating the place, date and time that the item was delivered into the care of a postal service, or sometimes indicating where and when received or in transit ...

s from discontinued post officers are of interest to students of postal history. As one example, in

Saguache County, Colorado Saguache County (suh-WATCH ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,368. The county seat is Saguache. History Saguache County was formed December 29, 1866 in the Territory of Colorado ...

there are over 50 discontinued post offices.

Notes

Examples of references from the postal history of Colorado: *Bauer, William H.; Ozment, James L.; and Willard, John H., ''Colorado Post Offices, 1859-1989: A Comprehensive Listing of Post Offices, Stations, and Branches'', Colorado Railroad Museum (May 1990), hardcover, 280 pages, *Helbock, Richard W., ''A Checklist of Colorado Post Offices 1858-1988'' *Jarrett, David L., ''Colorado Territorial and Pre-Territorial Postmarks'', Collector Club of Chicago (January 1, 1976), hardcover *Meschter, Daniel Y., ''Pre-Territorial Colorado Postal History'', La Posta Publications (1994), 91 pages *Segerstrom, Kenneth ''Colorado Illustrated Covers'' La Posta Publications (1988), paperback, 100 pages {{DEFAULTSORT:Discontinued Post Office Postal history Philatelic terminology Philately of the United States Postal history of the United States

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Further reading