RALEIGH -- Citing drastic declines in mail volume, the U.S. Postal Service will close its downtown post office in July, shuttering an institution that has stood on Fayetteville Street for 134 years.
The nearest alternative for downtown mail is nearly a mile away on New Bern Avenue, where downtown customers will be able to keep their old post-office box numbers and ZIP codes.
Downtown mailers did not take Friday's news of the closing well. By late afternoon, about a dozen people had posted notes of outrage on Twitter, asking patrons to petition U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, to keep the Century Station branch open.
"You can walk it," said legal secretary Martha Countess, motioning east toward New Bern. "But it's not convenient."
Finished in 1877 at a cost of $400,000, the building at Fayetteville and West Hargett streets was the first post office built in the South after the Civil War.
Officials with the renovated U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which occupies the upper floors, offer tours of the historic building. The tours will continue after the post office shuts down July 15.
Standing next to the Wake County courthouse at one of downtown Raleigh's busiest corners, the post office has made for an informal gathering place even for those who aren't mailing anything.
Sherman Jenkins sells his homemade jewelry from the low wall outside the front door. At noon on the first Wednesday of each month, octogenarian Cy King brings pamphlets and fliers there showing how much the government spends on weapons.
It was unclear Friday whether the spot would draw as much attention minus the mail traffic.
The Postal Service said no jobs would be lost.
There was no word about a possible future use for the ground floor space that will be vacated. Post office officials did not return calls seeking comment, but a note taped to a mail slot attributed the closing to recession-related declines and changing consumer habits.
The Postal Service also recently announced that Raleigh's Crabtree Valley location will close in June.
