Century-old St. Vrain post office closes

Freedom New Mexico

The 102-year-old St. Vrain Post Office has closed.

Bonnie Robinson of Melrose, who ran the post office for the past seven months, said her last day of sales was Tuesday. Customers began receiving their mail in a cluster box across St. Vrain’s Main Street on Monday.

“We’re all sad that it’s closing,” Robinson said. “That’s a long time, 102 years.”

Even so, Robinson said thus far, using the cluster box has worked well.

“The Post Office has been going through tough financial times lately, just like everyone else,” she said.

Robinson said St. Vrain is one of a number of small post offices with low revenues that has been closed, and the community’s postmaster retired last year, leaving more of an opportunity for closure.

The building, which the post office was leasing, will revert back to the control of the owner, and the rest area it is in will remain open, she said.

A few times during her short tenure, Robinson said, people dropped by specifically for a postmark from St. Vrain. Tuesday, a man from Colorado came in for stamps and decided to mail postcards from the office when he learned it was closing.

As for Robinson, she plans to continue her work as postmaster relief in Melrose, a job she’s held for four years. She fills in when the postmaster is absent, and plans to work at the Melrose Post Office every day for the next week and a half or two weeks.