#1 - Moosa CA

The Moosa California post office operated from 1881 until 1912. It was designated as the “World’s Smallest Post Office” in the 1909 “The Postmasters Advocate”; a monthly newsletter published by the U.S. Postal Service. Mail was delivered and picked up three time a week via a stagecoach. Moosa had three postmasters; Mathew Tomlins, Washington E. Irving, and Isaac Frazee. Isaac Frazee, also known as the ‘Moosa Poet’ moved the post office building to his nearby property after it closed in 1912.

Square Feet: 10.3

Built: 1881

Closed: 1912

#2 - Wawasee IN

Wawasee (Lake) Indiana was a small village where the town of Syracuse currently is; it located near the southeast corner of Lake Wabee. It was named after a native American Miami chief who lived in what is now Kosciusko County, Indiana, in the United States. He was brother to Miami chief Papakeecha. The village was originally named Cedar Beach and the post office was established under this name in 1879. In 1893 the town was renamed Wawasee and this small PO was built on the grounds of the Sargent Hotel. 

Square Feet: 22.5

Built: 1893

Closed: 1938?

#3 - Grimshawes NC

Located near Cashiers North Carolina, Grimshawes is named after Thomas Grimshawe. Thomas migrated to the mountains of Western North Carolina in 1874. Opening in 1909, the 5' x 6' Grimshawes post office replaced the Whiteside Cove NC post office which had existed from 1878-1909. The Grimshawes post office operated until 1953.This post office building was restored by local folks and can still be visited; its current location is on Whiteside Cove Road near Cashiers NC.

Square Feet: 33.0

Built: 1909

Closed: 1953

#4 - Wheeler Springs CA

Wheeler Blumberg, who founded Wheeler's Hot Springs in 1891 and for a number of years it was a successful resort, with guest cabins, swimming pool, fishing, camping, and the hot springs. Wilcox built the small post office next to his Webb Wilcox Cafe in the mid-1930s after the Maricopa Highway was built. The Post Office was designated by Ripley's Believe it or Not as the smallest Post Office in the U.S.A. In 1962 Wilcox died and Wheeler Springs lost its status as a U.S. Post Office.

Square Feet: 36.9

Built: 1936

Closed: 1962

#5 - Mountain Ranch CA

Mountain Ranch CA was established during the California gold rush and the first post office was established in 1858. The early post offices were a part of citizens homes but in 1923 the small dedicated post office shown here was built. An article in Washington D.C. Star newspaper stated this was the smallest post office in the country. It served approximately 250 residents and May Javeaux was postmaster.

Square Feet: 48.0

Built: 1923

Closed: 1956

#6 - Bill's Place PA

William 'Bill" Wakefield was the owner of a restaurant in the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Pennsylvania called Bill’s Place. In a marketing stroke of genius, Bill added and opened a small post office on May 22, 1935. Advertised with billboards along the Lincoln Highway as the "Smallest Post Office in the U.S.", many travelers stopped in for a meal and a postmarked postcard or cachet cover. The post office was closed in 1953.

Square Feet: 48.0

Built: 1935

Closed: 1953

#7 - Cooley NY

Cooley New York was located in Sullivan County, New York. The post office was first established in 1896 and was discontinued in 1919. Its first postmaster was Henry Cox. It currently is a populated place located within the Town of Liberty. The tiny post office was replaced with the one shown at right around 1908.

Square Feet: 48.0 est.

Built: 1896?

Closed: 1908?

#8 - De Luz CA

By the late 1870s homesteaders began settling in the area around the foot of the Santa Ana California mountains. Within a few years a small store and post office was established providing service to the local ranchers. A significant flood occurred in 1916 that destroyed the existing post office and the one shown here was built on higher ground. Often said to be the ‘smallest operational post office in the United States’ until it was finally closed on February 28, 1955.

Square Feet: 49.0

Built: 1916

Closed: 1955

#9 - Ochopee FL

In 1928 the Tamiami Trail was opened and James Gaunt purchased 250 acres of land for $100 per acre along the highway. Gaunt built a tomato farming settlement with a number of wooden buildings eventually including a store, post office, and boarding house. In 1953 a boarding house visitor’s room caught fire and much of the town burned before Everglades firemen could arrive. The existing store, post office and boarding house all burned to the ground. The next day the mail arrived without the post office, but quick thinking folks moved an irrigation pipe shed into place to serve as the post office. A new ‘smallest PO’ was born and remains in operation today.

Square Feet: 58.3

Built: 1953

Closed: -----

#10 - Silver Lake WV

Silver Lake WV is a small town located on a man-made lake built in 1928 at the headwaters of the Youghiogheny River. Previously this town was known as Breedlove and was the southern terminal at that time of the Preston Railroad. In 1958 Mr. and Mrs. P.L. Milkint built a tiny Roman Catholic church in honor of their parents and billed it as the 'smallest church in the USA'. It appears they built the 'the world's smallest mailing office' a few years later. Sign above PO windows states there is outgoing mail daily, but window service is only available on Friday 13th. Parcel post service is available on Feb 29th.

Square Feet: 64

Built: 1958?

Closed: -----

#11 - Salvo NC

Salvo Post Office is a historic post office building located at Salvo, Dare County, North Carolina. It was built about 1910, and is a small frame building measuring 8 feet by 12 feet. The interior consists of the post office lobby and the postmaster's workroom. This post office was built as a portable building so it could be purchased by succeeding postmasters and moved to their respective properties. Is currrently the second smallest PO in the US.

Square Feet: 96

Built: 1910

Closed: -----