Letters-to-the-Editor: Mon 11/28/2011 8:21 AM

Sent via MOTOBLUR™ on Verizon Wireless

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From: "Garretson, Edwin P,Jr" <epgjr@wsu.edu>
To: "nicholasguitar@msn.com" <nicholasguitar@msn.com>
Sent: Sat, Nov 26, 2011 23:04:59 GMT+00:00
Subject: FW: Malden Post Office

Nick-

Thank you for your emails and images of the Malden post office. Friday I drove to Malden to visit the site myself and was quite impressed with the old structure and the vribrant part it was so obviously playing in town during the hour I spent there.

Below is the letter I sent, on Whitman County Historical Society letterhead, to Doreen Karoly. Please feel free to distribute this to anyone you wish, such as Kathy McMorris Rogers and the like.

As archivist of the Historical Society I am also quite interested in the old images you sent in your email. Neither they nor the current images are of sufficient resolution to be be of archival use. Would it be possible for you to scan them at 600 dpi and send them to me? 

Ed

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November 26, 2011

Doreen Karoly, District Discontinuance Coordinator

415 First Avenue North

Seattle WA 98109-6171

RE: DOCKET NO.: 1371535-99149 MALDEN WASHINGTON POST OFFICE CLOSURE

Dear Ms. Karoly:

I am writing on behalf of the Whitman County Historical Society to express our concern about the potential closure of the Malden, Washington, post office.

The building was constructed in 1909 as the Farmers and Merchants Bank and later converted to house the Post Office. It is of a typical design for a mercantile structure on the Palouse from the early 20th Century. Buildings very similar to it are located in Farmington, Washington, and in Johnson, Washington.

Post offices have played an important role in the development of rural Washington. During early settlement days, it was a mark of distinction to open a post office. As such, they became a center of the community where you picked up mail, met and visited with friends, and transacted all sorts of business. The Post Office in Malden retains those traits.

On a recent visit to the Post Office I witnessed an older gentleman pick up his mail, and, while there, he visited with the postal employee and a neighbor, receiving a hug and good conversation from her. This encounter was obviously an important part of his day. Going to the local post office provides him with needed social contact as well as a connection to the outer world.

Closing this post office would likely be the death knell for this small town, forcing the elderly to travel an inconvenient distance to receive and send mail. Historically post offices have been an important part of small town life and we recommend to you that the Malden Post Office remain open.

Sincerely

Edwin P. Garretson, Jr., PhD

Archivist, Whitman County Historical Society