The National Trust now has a digital tool that shares stories of how America’s post offices have been adapted for community-serving uses. “SOLD: America’s Historic Post Offices” is a GIS-enabled story map that documents 20 historic post office buildings from coast to coast that have been offered for sale. Buildings are categorized across five themes: whether they have retained postal services after transfer, were transferred with deed restrictions, have sparked advocacy campaigns, feature New Deal artworks, and have been adaptively reused to serve community functions.

Rather than an exhaustive list of historic post office sales, the story map offers a snapshot of different outcomes based on the five themes with links to documentation that will be useful for concerned locals, creative developers, and everyone in between. The Trust anticipates that this tool will generate collaboration to ensure the survival of a unique part of American history, empowering local advocates and inspiring responsible developers to honor the community-serving purposes of post office buildings across the country. See a broad overview followed by the full map, or go right to the map and start reading stories.