Bridal Veil, Oregon. 125 Years Of Hand-Cancelled Covers.

This little post office gets mentioned often at my local stamp club. The post office is notable for staying open in spite of being in a town that no longer exists. The name is what makes it special, of course. What I find most interesting is that the postmaster hand-cancels EVERY letter that comes through the office. I think I'll make the 30 minute drive to visit it tomorrow :)

http://www.kgw.com/news/Bridal-Veil...1624245.html

Brian

That's a nice story. The only thing I wonder about is the validity of that post office...is it really a functioning post office or only a substation to a post office in another community? Sure, they postmark covers that come to them, but with no town population, are they really a post office?

The USPS website does not recognize the town as having a post office yet it does have ZIP Code 97010. (The USPS website links you to Brightwood, OR 97011.)

Another website suggests that the town has a population of 81, which differs from the news article suggesting that all that's left is a post office and cemetery.

I did come up with this reference about the Bridal Veil post office:




I double-checked the USPS list of nationwide post offices that will see reduced hours and Bridal Veil, OR is on the list, with reduced service hours from 6 to 4 hours daily. It is still curious as to why it isn't carried on the USPS post office search engine, though.

Don't waste your trip, have a few covers stamped and auction on SCF?

I like the way you think! If only I could throw together some cacheted covers by tomorrow ...

I'm not certain if you have answered your question or not, but I'll try to paint a picture of where this post office lies.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/crgnsa

Bridal Veil is towards the Western edge of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, 3 miles from Multnomah Falls & 15 miles from Bonneville Dam to the East, and is 13 miles from the nearest town to the West (Troutdale, Oregon). This area is federally protected, and no new homes have been built in this area for decades.




There are only a handful of homes that are close enough for this post office to serve, but they are so few and scattered, it wouldn't be financially prudent to stay open.

My best guess is that this post office remains open because the town name generates enough revenue to justify it's existence.

Brian

This video news report gives much more information, along with examples of their special postmarks and an interview with its Postmaster:

http://www.kptv.com/story/18966520/...ipId=7475176

The photograph explains ideally the genesis of "Bridal Veil"

.....and there is, of course, Bridal Veil Falls, on Ontario's Manitoulin Island (the largest freshwater island in the world?). Alas, no post office.

USPS Facebook and the USPS blog "Stamp of Approval" has just gotten around to publicizing the special Bridal Veil postmark, too:

http://blog-stampofapproval.com/201...al-postmark/