Back in 2004 I discovered a place on the web that was trying to collect a photo of every post office in the U.S. This sounded a lot like Don Quixote’s quest and that made it right up my alley. After 3 months and around 3 dozen photos we dropped the whole thing because none of the photos I submitted were added to The Postal Gallery Database. I guess they lost interest because the last update was in February 2004.1
Then a chance encounter with a PO at the end of 2006 sparked our interest again. Even if it was a lost cause for the Postal Gallery Database folks, it was a perfect excuse for Donna and I to do something together we both like, drive around back roads and take photos. In 2007 we photographed 310 of the 454 South Carolina Post Offices, most of the remaining 100 were done in 2008 with the last few photographed in early 2009.
Manning to Norway
Manning - 29102-9998 - This town is the county seat of Clarendon County and was originally called, Clarendon, but was renamed Manning in honor of the famous New Orleans Saints quarterback (& father of other famous quarterbacks) when Archie was stopped for speeding on Main Street in 1969 on his way back to Ol' Miss from Spring Break in Myrtle Beach. (03/02/08)
Marietta - 29661 - This isn't anywhere near Ohio either. (10/14/07)
Marion - 29571-3641 - It was nearly impossible to get a shot of the car and the front of this PO. Even if I parked in the middle of the busy main street the trees that were growing in front obscured the building enough that you can't tell it is a Post Office. (04/19/08)"
Marion - 29571-8586 - [Centenary] This Post Office is at Stage 3 in the Life of a Small Town PO. 1) Open in a small building in town. 2) Update to separate new "building" slightly out of town. 3) Lose identity to neighboring larger town. And 4) close it's doors. (04/19/08)
Martin - 29836 - Martin is about halfway between Allendale and the Savannah River Plant on SC125. It is so small that its population is not even listed on the database that I had found for South Carolina. This means that probably less than 50 people live in the town. I can believe that too, as it seemed like all there was a church and this post office. One of those literally, blink and you miss it towns. (03/14/04)
Mauldin - 29662 - Sunday morning early, so no other cars to contend with, but wouldn't you know it, the sun is behind the subject. Oh, well, I do love those lens flares that I get with that set up. (6/17/2007)
Mayesville - 29104 - We entered town from the north on SC154 and passed through downtown which consisted of a dozen or so collapsing storefronts. Then came one huge mansion on it's way downhill. At the crossroads with US76 there was a convenience store that might have been operational on the right corner. 100 yards to the left was this shiny Post Office. (08/05/07)
Mayo - 29368 - Home of the world famous Mayo Clinic. Not really, but is the birthplace of Mayonnaise. This delicious condiment was accidentally discovered when a local farm wife, Marge Hellman, while mixing the wet ingredients for a cake, accidentally poured vinegar, instead of milk, into her eggs and oil. (09/03/07)
McBee - 29101 - The first of four Post Offices today that offered no out front parking. This one had a paved lot on the left for employees only and the hoi polloi had a dirt lot on the right. (03/11/07)
McClellanville - 29458 - There are a lot of towns in this part of the state that use the term Low Country in their touristy literature, but for my money McClellanville epitomizes it. (09/28/08)
McColl - 29570 - McColl is just abut a mile from the North Carlina border on US15/401. Looks like they have just put up a nice new old looking clock right in front of the Post Office. Somebody must be going around the state trying to sell those clocks tot he city fathers, because a couple weeks ago one went up in downtown Aiken. (07/15/07)
McConnells - 29726 - The Post Office shared the building with the town hall. The cop shop was probably around back. (11/11/07)
McCormick - 29835 - McCormick was the only town on today's tour that had a population in the 4 digit range with a head count of a little over 1,600. McCormick is a county seat, big enough to get its own Hardees restaurant and must be a regional sorting facility for the mail judging by the size of this nice shiny new Post Office. (04/03/04)
Miley - 29933 - This is exactly how I pictured in my mind what a rural South Carolina Post Office should look like. (08/19/07)
Modoc - 29838 - We used to come out to right near here quite a few times a year way back 10 years or so ago because there is an excellent mountain biking trail just outside of town. Other than a closed down car wash, a convenience store or two and the Post Office there is not too much in Modoc. (04/03/04)
Moncks Corner - 29461 - While I'm quite used to finding ol' beat up pickup trucks parked in front of Post Offices while the owner is inside reading his mail, this brand new Mustang Shelby GT500 was a first. (04/20/08)
Monetta - 29105 - Really cool old skool Post Office that has probably been there for years. I'd like to think this is not to far away from Monetta's very original PO because this is just a hop, skip and a jump away from the railroad tracks. (02/10/07)
Montmorenci - 29839 - The town boasts a bed and breakfast, a winery, a volunteer fire house, a couple of churches, a few scattered homes and lots of farms. Immediately to the left of the PO is a small country store that is a favored stopping spot of the Aiken Bicycle Club, it is the perfect distance for one last Gatorade break before returning back to Aiken. (02/15/04)
Moore - 29369 - Julianne. Mandy. Demi. Roger. Mary Tyler. Michael. Dudley. (09/01/07)
Mount Carmel - 29840 - Wasn't really sure I would find this because Google maps didn't show a Depot Street, nor any other street name for that matter, in this small town, but there were so few roads in total we were bound to stumble on it without spending too much time looking. (03/18/07)
Mount Croghan - 29727 - This is the main intersection of town, SC 9 gets flashing yellow & SC 268 has the flashing red light. There is a restaurant to the left of the Post Office and a warehouse behind me and not much of anything else. (03/11/07)
Mount Pleasant - 29464-3142 - To get here we crossed the now iconic Cooper River Bridge for the first of three times today. (02/07/09)
Mount Pleasant - 29464-4500 - [Mount Pleasant CPU] Our second attempt to find this Post Office was easy, all I had to do was go on the internet and look up its new location. (02/08/09)
Mountain Rest - 29664 - This Post Office shared the building with a cafe. The restaurant must have been all no smoking because just out of the frame to the right is a fellow puffing away on a cigarette while he waited for his companion to finish her coffee. (09/22/07)
Mountville - 29370 - Using the address from USPS.com and Google Maps I was led to believe that this Post Office was way out of town on a dead end road. Not expecting to find it there we looked anyway. It wasn't there. We then drove the length of the road all the way to the center of town and still didn't find it. Off in the distance to our left was a US flag flying. There it was, only about 5 miles from where it was supposed to be. (6/17/2007)
Mullins - 29574-6229 - [Rains] Because when we go looking for Post Offices I print out a semi-close up Google map to help us find the PO. Our first attempt at locating this Post Office we were way off on the other side of town because of our confusion with the congruence of SC41 and SC41 ALT. (04/19/08)
Mullins - 29574-9997 - This building looks like it started life as a bank or doctor's office before it became a Post Office. (04/19/08)
Murrells Inlet - 29576 - Sunrise. It looked like it had potential to be an awesome sky, but those clouds never did light up colorfully. (09/28/08)
Myrtle Beach - 29572 - [Live Oak] Because it is near closing time there were a lot of people mailing stuff and checking their mail in their P.O. Box. (09/27/08)
Myrtle Beach - 29577 - Myrtle Beach's main Post Office and our first of the day and it is still quite dark out. (09/27/08)
Myrtle Beach - 29579 - [Carolina Forest] We wanted a bagel for breakfast and as luck would have it, there was a bagel place practically across the street from this PO. I set up the camera on the tripod and walked back to the car to turn on the parking lights. My smart alec assistant decided to take a picture of me as I walked back. (09/27/08)
Myrtle Beach - 29588 - [Socastee] After pretty much a full day of Post Office hunting (a dozen bagged), when planning Sunday's trip there was one that was sort of out of the way, so we took a drive after sunset and snapped one more picture. (09/27/08)
Neeses - 29107 - We didn't even set out to take a picture of the this town's Post Office. It was another red dot on the map, but when we passed through on the way from North to Norway I spotted the familiar blue Post Office this way sign and followed it. (04/07/2007)
Nesmith - 29580 - From Wikipedia: The hamlet was named after the Nesmith family (which doesn't include the famous Monkee.) According to local historian William Boddie the family tradition is that the name was derived from an event that happened to the progenitor of the clan back in medieval times, when the soldier was trying to repair his own armour after a battle. His superior officer remarked, "He's a brave soldier, but he's nae smith." (08/31/08)
New Ellenton - 29809 - This post office is a dead ringer for the one in Langley, except they did not spring for the town name and zip code in metal lettering above the door. I almost drove into a ditch getting in the lot, I expected two driveways, one for in and one for out, but there was just one for both. I had to make a sharp cut back turn to hit the driveway. (02/29/04)
New Zion - 29111 - We used our 'new' book of county maps to find a short cut to this small town from Turbeville. (03/02/08)
Newberry - 29108 - On a Master's Miata Club breakfast run I coerced my fellow members to stop with me and have their cars in my 50th Post Office picture. (02/17/07)
Newry - 29665 - The store next door was boarded up and off to the right was the crumbling remains of what, at the turn of the last century, was probably a thriving mill. (09/22/07)
Nichols - 29581 - (04/19/08)
Ninety Six - 29666 - With this town's name you would have thought that the zip code would have been 29696. (02/10/07)
Norris - 29667 - A very dark area of town and the exposure I needed to get this shot almost looks like I used night vision to get it. (09/22/07)
North - 29112 - I actually mailed a package from this post office last December before we really restarted the Post Office project. The bible map had a red dot for North meaning for some reason I didn't think it had a PO. Might have been a mis-marking leftover from the aborted project start back in 2004. (04/07/2007)
North Augusta - 29841 - We first went to look for a Post Office the USPS web site lists for Beech Island. It mapped out about 10 miles from the center that town somewhere in North Augusta, surprise, it was not there. Beech Island has the same zip as North Augusta, so they might have shared a building at one time and the North Augusta Post Office is fairly new and big. (02/29/04)
North Charleston - 29405-5723 - [Pinehaven] ...meaning we had to drive all the way back those 4 miles and then some to get here. (02/08/09)
North Charleston - 29406-4883 - Probably should have gotten the hint when we couldn't find the first No. Charleston PO 'cause it didn't exist anymore. This Post Office was about 4 miles further down the road than our Google map said it was...(02/08/09)
North Charleston - 29406-9997 - [Charleston Southern University] Our second college Post Office of the weekend and it was an easy find compared to the first. (02/08/09)
North Charleston - 29418 - [Cross Country Branch] And then five more miles back in the opposite direction to snag this PO north of the airport and Air Force base. (02/08/09)
North Myrtle Beach - 29582-2478 - [Cherry Grove Beach] With no flag on the pole, a recessed blue box and absolutely no signage meant we flew right by this on the first time. (09/27/08)
North Myrtle Beach - 29582-3398 - Creative cropping along with lucky parking makes this Post Office seem quiet, but it was pretty busy on this Saturday morning. (09/27/08)
North Myrtle Beach - 29582-5060 - "[Coastal 29582-5060] Once again, much to the chagrin of my co-pilot I ignored the numerous "No Parking" warnings and got out of the car and took my time snapping away. (09/27/08)
Norway - 29113 - One of three Scandinavian sounding towns in South Carolina. Denmark was about the 12th Post Office picture we took and Sweden, which is between the here and there, doesn't even have town limit signs let alone a PO... (04/07/2007)