The Smallest Post Office in the U.S.

On the way home from Everglades City, we decided to look for this national landmark in Ochopee via Hwy 41 or Tamiami Trail. I haven't traversed yet this portion of Hwy 41 going to Miami and I am always open to driving through roads I haven't used in the past. Knowing now that the smallest post office in the US is not that far from where we were, it was very easy in deciding this will be the road we'll be travelling on. I also have a hunch the distance back to our home is less than the route we used that morning.

So probably less than 10 minutes from the junction of Hwy 29 and Hwy 41, we saw the landmark. Well, since it was a Sunday, it was closed but that didn't stop us from stopping and have some souvenir shots even in mid-day heat and high humidity. We felt like it was a close 100 deg. F. but since it was our first time seeing this landmark, we had to 'sacrifice'. After all, people are always amazed to see the biggest, the smallest, the fastest, the slowest, etc.

I got the ff. info from the internet and you can also read more info from the first photo below. It is readable if you click it.

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This closet-sized, 7x8-foot building used to be an irrigation pipe shed for a tomato farm. It was pressed into service after a fire destroyed the Ochopee general store -- which also housed the post office -- in 1953. The town, which sits on the edge of the Everglades, and which reportedly has a population of 11, has been happy with it ever since.

Shannon Mitchell works in this tiny place as its clerk, and she says that she has the coolest job in the world. She has a phone, a computer, an air conditioner, a fluorescent tube for light, and a pair of tiny sliding screen doors to keep out the giant horseflies. Everything that she needs is obviously within reach. The job is quiet, as you might expect, although she does get occasional visits from people from all over the world who stop by to get something postmarked. Shannon has a stack of Ochopee Post Office post cards on the counter, pre-stamped both domestic and international, for when the tour busses pull up.

The person who delivers mail from this post office has a daily route that stretches across three counties, 132 miles long.


For the link, click here.


Smallest Post Office in the United States:

US Hwy 41, Ochopee, FL[Show Map]

Directions: On U.S. 41 around three miles east of Hwy 29, south side.

Phone: 239-695-4131

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Lastly, my hunch was right, we saved at least 5 miles on the return trip.

Our photos: