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  7. National Postal Museum
Postal Museum

National Postal Museum

Hours

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10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily
Closed Dec. 25

Location

location

2 Massachusetts Ave., NE
Washington, DC

map View Floor Plan , download pdf

ticket Free, no passes needed

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About

Located in the historic D.C. City Post Office next to the restored Union Station, the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum showcases the largest and most comprehensive collection of stamps and philatelic material in the world—including postal stationery, vehicles used to transport the mail, mailboxes, meters, cards and letters, and postal materials that predate the use of stamps. Visitors can walk along a Colonial post road, ride with the mail in a stagecoach, browse through a small town post office from the 1920s, receive free stamps to start a collection and more.

Highlights

Three vintage mail planes; stagecoach; 1931 Ford Model A postal truck; replica of a railway car; William H. Gross Stamp Gallery, the world’s largest stamp gallery where children can trace the journeys of historic letters, create a virtual stamp collection, and design their own stamp.

MetroAccess

To provide an address for MetroAccess Paratransit, please use 2 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

We encourage the use of Metrorail and Metrobus.

Metrorail

Metro Station: Union Station (Mass. Ave. exit)

Nearest Accessible Metro Entrance:
Union Station
East Side of First St., NE (Entrance to Amtrak)

Check Metrorail's Elevator and Escalator Service Status page for service disruptions.

Parking

There is no public parking facility for the museum. Street parking is available near the museum and all-day paid parking is available at Union Station, located next to the museum.

View a map of accessible parking spaces.

Dining


Shopping

Find fun museum merchandise in the museum store or online.


Shopping

Find fun museum merchandise in the museum store or online.

See Getting Here for information on accessible parking and public transportation.

Accessibility Information and Programs

  • Smithsonian accessibility for visitors
  • Museum accessibility details

Disability access service requests: [email protected]

  • United States Postal Inspectors white truck on display with the back door open.
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    Behind the Badge Added

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    Behind the Badge

    Learn how the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service, helps protect you and discover tips to guard against scams and fraud.

    June 27, 2014 – Indefinitely

    Postal Museum

  • Exhibit on Amelia Earhart with a her suit on display and information on an interactive screen.
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    Mail Marks History Added

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    Mail Marks History

    Trace the journeys of three historic letters by analyzing different kinds of mail markings.

    September 22, 2013 – Permanent

    Postal Museum

  • Screen shaped as a stamp with multiple stamps displayed on it.
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    Connect with U.S. Stamps Added

    Connect with U.S. Stamps Removed

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    Connect with U.S. Stamps

    Explore your own connection with stamps, create your own stamp design, and learn how stamps are produced.

    September 22, 2013 – Permanent

    Postal Museum

  • Airplane printed in blue on a stamp with a red border.
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    Gems of American Philately

    Examine a 1918 Inverted Jenny and 12 other philatelic gems that are rarely on view.

    September 22, 2013 – Permanent

    Postal Museum

  • Stamp Gallery featuring an array of soaring stamps
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    World of Stamps Added

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    World of Stamps

    See stamps that have shaped history and honored people and places around the world.

    September 22, 2013 – Permanent

    Postal Museum

  • The Stamps Around the Globe exhibition in the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery
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    Stamps Around the Globe

    Browse stamps from every country that has ever produced stamps—including countries that no longer exist!

    September 22, 2013 – Permanent

    Postal Museum

  • Large exhibit with desk in the center with interactive screens.
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    National Stamp Salon Added

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    National Stamp Salon

    Browse tens of thousands of stamps, mail, medals, dies, and other artifacts from the National Philatelic Collection.

    September 22, 2013 – Permanent

    Postal Museum

  • Woman using sorter.
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    Systems at Work Added

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    Systems at Work

    Learn how mail travels from sender to recipient and how the process has changed over the last 200 years!

    December 14, 2011 – Permanent

    Postal Museum

  • A solider handing a package in a white box to another solider smiling.
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    Mail Call Added

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    Mail Call

    This exhibition addresses the emotional importance of mail to troops and their families during wartime and the logistics of delivering mail to troops.

    November 10, 2011 – Permanent

    Postal Museum

  • View of the exhibition and an airplane.
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    Airmail in America Added

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    Airmail in America

    This exhibition examines the critical role the postal system played in the creation of America's commercial aviation industry.

    February 22, 2006 – Permanent

    Postal Museum

  • Portrait of Benjamin Franklin in a dark red suit and waistcoat.
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    Binding the Nation Added

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    Binding the Nation

    This gallery provides an overview of mail service in America from colonial times through the 19th century.

    July 30, 1993 – Permanent

    Postal Museum

  • Interior of a mail car with walls of sorting bins.
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    Moving the Mail Added

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    Moving the Mail

    Faced with the challenge of moving the mail quickly, the postal service looked to trains, automobiles, airplanes, and buses to deliver the mail.

    July 30, 1993 – Permanent

    Postal Museum

  • pneumatic mail container.
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    Customers and Communities Added

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    Customers and Communities

    This gallery focuses on the modern changes in mail service introduced at the turn of the 20th century.

    July 30, 1993 – Permanent

    Postal Museum

  • View all Postal Museum exhibitions arrow-right
Associated Glossary Term: Inverted Jenny; Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Donor: Raymond Henry Weill; Donor: Roger G. Weill; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Printer: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; Subject: Curtiss Jenny airplane

24c Curtiss Jenny invert single

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Subject: Owney; Transferring Unit: Post Office Department

Owney the dog

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Donor: William F. Blum; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Early nineteenth century stagecoach

Found in Collection Source: Philatelic Collection, National Museum of American History (SI); Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

8c Love single

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Donor: Mrs. Frank V. Williamson; Manufacturer: Arnold, Constable & Company; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; User: Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart's flight suit

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Transferring Unit: Stamp Services (USPS)

Forever Latin Music Legends: Celia Cruz single

Associated Business/Institution: Postal Inspection Service; Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Donor: Marjorie A. Cope; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Prior Owner: Dana F. Angier

Postal inspector chest badge

Artist: Charles Ayer Whipple; Artist: Joseph-Siffred Duplessis; Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Subject: Benjamin Franklin; Transferring Unit: Post Office Department

Painting of Benjamin Franklin

Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Transferring Unit: Stamp Services (USPS)

34c Snoopy single

Carrier: Steamship RMS Titanic; Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Funding Source: Director's Discretionary Fund; Place: New Jersey; User: John Starr March; Vendor: John A. Corwin III

Sea Post Clerk John Starr March's pocket watch

Found in Collection Source: Philatelic Collection, National Museum of American History (SI); Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

10c Zip Code single

Associated Business/Institution: New York Vehicle Maintenance Facility (USPS); Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Donor: Connie S. Smith; Maker: Farm Specialty Manufacturing Company, Inc.; Patentee: Virgil D. White; Place: New York; User: Harold Crabtree

Ford Model-T with snowmobile attachment

Wooden cylinder that is rounded at both ends and narrow in the center

Handheld door knocker for letter carriers

Collection: National Air and Space Museum (SI); Lender: National Air and Space Museum (SI); Place: California

Wiseman-Cooke airplane

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Transferring Unit: Post Office Department

90c Abraham Lincoln Panama-Pacific small die proof

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Transferring Unit: Stamp Services (USPS)

29c Hank Williams single

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Museum Collecting Unit: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: District of Columbia; Printer: Government Printing Office

ZIP code poster featuring Dick Tracy

Associated Glossary Term: Lithography; Place: New York; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Printer: Ashton-Potter USA (Ltd); Transferring Unit: Stamp Services (USPS)

33c Jackie Robinson single

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: Ohio; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Transferring Unit: Stamp Services (USPS)

39c Favorite Children's Book Animals: Fox in Socks single

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Donor: James H. Bruns; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Toy mailbox

Associated Glossary Term: Photogravure; Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: Hawaii; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Printer: Avery Dennison; Subject: Duke Kahanamoku; Transferring Unit: Stamp Services (USPS)

37c Duke Kahanamoku single

Found in Collection Source: Philatelic Collection, National Museum of American History (SI); Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Printer: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; Subject: Pony Express

4c Pony Express single

Associated Event: Regulus Missile Mail; Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Transferring Unit: Post Office Department

Regulus I Missile Mail container

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: Kansas; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

25c The Wizard Of Oz single

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Transferring Unit: Stamp Services (USPS)

32c Clara Barton single

Place: Illinois

Rural Free Delivery mailbox

Blue stamp with a white snowflake and white Olympic rings

4c Olympic Winter Games single

Associated Glossary Term: Parcel Post; Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Vendor: Hugh G. Pearson

Ford Model AA 1-ton parcel post truck

Associated Glossary Term: Lithography; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Printer: Ashton-Potter USA (Ltd); Transferring Unit: Stamp Services (USPS)

33c Special Olympics single

Associated Event: World War II; Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Found in Collection Source: National Postal Museum (SI); Place of Origin: Illinois; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

V-Mail stationery and box

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: Texas; Transferring Unit: Silsbee (TX) Post Office (USPS)

U.S. mail city container cart

Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Designer: Lucasfilm Ltd.; Place of Use: District of Columbia; Through Source: Terry McCaffrey; Transferring Unit: Stamps Management Division (USPS)

Star Wars R2-D2 collection box

Bequest: Edward Douglas Wright; Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Executor: Michael D. Maddocks; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

8c Rural Mail Delivery single

Associated Glossary Term: Rural Free Delivery (RFD) padlocks; Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Rural Free Delivery mailbox padlock

Associated Business/Institution: Rural Free Delivery (RFD); Associated Glossary Term: Rural Free Delivery (RFD) badges; Collection: National Postal Museum (SI); Found in Collection Source: National Postal Museum (SI); Place: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

RFD letter carrier cap badge

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