Locked boxes

SNAPSHOT

Post offices were among the first institutions in many frontier towns. Now, as Western outposts shrink, losing grocery stores and then gas stations, the/re among the last to leave, says Postal Service spokesman David Rupert. In 1900, there were about 77,000 post offices in the U.S.; today, there are just 27,000. The USPS is funded entirely by revenue from stamps and mailing services, but the amount of mail it handles has dropped 20 percent since 2006, thanks to the recession and the Internet. With this year's predicted $8 billion-plus budget shortfall, the agency plans to close around 2,000 more post offices, including some in tiny towns, such as Shawmut, Mont (pop. 42). "Who is going to move to a rural town with no post office?' residentlim Murnion laments. BYEMILENEOSTLIND

Bairoil, Wyo. (pop. 106): The town sprouted over 100 years ago, with the discovery of Wyoming's most productive (and still active) oilfield; there's been a post office since 1924. After Jeffrey City's post office closed about five years ago, people came 35 miles to Bairoil for their mail. The next closest post office is in Rawlins, 45 miles away in the opposite direction.

Madeline, Calif. (pop. 70): Ranchers shipped livestock by railroad and the motel advertised big sweet oranges here, where the post office first opened in 1875.

Cora, Wyo. (pop. 142): The historic post office has been the central gathering point for this sprawling agricultural community along the Upper Green River for 120 years.

Empire, Nev. (former pop. 217): This company town on the edge of the Black Rock Desert was founded 87 years ago to house gypsum miners. In January, the gypsum plant shut down and the town began to empty. On May 27, the post office closed, locking its last active P.O. boxes - 30 out of a total 174. (The Burning Man festival, held nearby, has a permit to set up a temporary post office.)

Parlin, Cob. (pop. 89): This post office opened in 1879 at rancher John I Parlin's stage stop. From 1881 to 1953, the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad made a five-minute halt at the station. The tracks have since been torn up, but the general store, in the same building as the post office, sells Western regalia and rents cabins to summer tourists.