The Portland Post Office has been delivering mail since the Revolution

 Postmaster Michael Hakey speaks on the steps on the Portland Main Post Office on Forest Avenue on Thursday, July 2. Portland's post office is one of just 62 that have been operating since 1775. (Riley Board/Staff Writer) PORTLAND — As America celebrates its 250th birthday this month, the city of Portland is honoring a part of its history that has been around since the Revolution: the post office. City officials and U.S. Postal Service employees gathered Thursday morning on the steps of the Portland Main Post Office on Forest Avenue to declare a day of celebration for 250 years of postal service in the city. Portland’s post office is one of 62 in the country that have remained open and served customers since the first national postal agency was created in 1775. Of course, the existing brick colonial revival building on Forest Avenue doesn’t date back to the Revolution, Postal Service employee Dana Rivers said. That wasn’t built until 1932. Before that, the post office was located at the aptly named Post Office Park, between Market and Exchange streets and north of Middle Street. Today, that park is home to two red Japanese mailboxes, gifted to Portland in 1989 by its sister city Shinagawa. That building [was constructed in 1868 and demolished in 1965](https://www.portlandlandmarks.org/old-post-office). And before that, Rivers said, the post office was established in what at the time was called Falmouth, Massachusetts. That location — now a parking lot across from Micucci Grocery store at the intersection of Middle and India streets — is where colony residents got their mail on the first Independence Day. Rivers, a Portland letter carrier of 28 years whose route includes the stretch of downtown between the Time and Temperature Building and the restaurant Nosh, didn’t know any of this until a few weeks ago. When he learned that the city would be celebrating his place of work, the self-described history buff wanted to know more. He did his own research, and talked with the staff at the Maine Historical Society, which is on his route. The city celebrated the historic designation Thursday with an introduction from Postmaster Michael Hakey and a proclamation from Mayor Mark Dion, who said postal workers do vital, behind-the-scenes work that keeps the city and country operating. [](https://w2pcms.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/IMG_1535.jpeg) Portland Mayor Mark Dion delivers a proclamation on the steps on the Portland Main Post Office on Forest Avenue on Thursday, July 2. (Riley Board/Staff Writer) “We think government built this county? No. We think the county was built because of the powers of the military? No. It was built because of all of you connecting each one of us and creating community,” he said. “You are a foundational service, and as long as this country stands, it will because the postal service will be there for it.” As Dion spoke, the crowd huddled in the shade at the top of the stairs to [escape the blazing sun on one of the hottest days](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/06/29/maine-braces-for-extreme-heat-ahead-of-fourth-of-july/) of the year so far. The mayor thanked the letter carriers delivering mail out in the heat. Copy the Story Link Tagged: [America's 250th](https://www.pressherald.com/tag/americas-250th/), [city of portland](https://www.pressherald.com/tag/city-of-portland/), [Mark Dion](https://www.pressherald.com/tag/mark-dion/), [Portland](https://www.pressherald.com/tag/portland/), [post office](https://www.pressherald.com/tag/post-office/) [](https://www.pressherald.com/author/riley-board) [Riley BoardStaff Writer](https://www.pressherald.com/author/riley-board) Riley covers education for the Press Herald. Before moving to Portland, she spent two years in Kenai, Alaska, reporting on local government, schools and natural resources for the public radio station KDLL. [More by Riley Board](https://www.pressherald.com/author/riley-board)