USPS policy allows free PO Boxes for some customers without home delivery, but access varies widely from town to town in Oregon and Washington.
PORTLAND, Ore. — White Salmon, Washington, seems to have it all, with its postcard view of the Columbia River Gorge.
But when it comes to the basics like water, power and trash pickup, one service is missing. The U.S. Postal Service doesn’t deliver mail within city limits. Instead, most residents pay to rent a post office box.
For residents in this rural community roughly 70 miles east of Portland and Vancouver, a PO box isn’t just where letters show up. It’s how people get medication, legal documents and their ballots. Washington is a vote-by-mail state.
“The fact that you need to rent a post office box and take on that cost in order for your ballot to be delivered is something that we find alarming,” Keethler said.
Several years ago, the city tried to solve the problem. Officials designed a delivery route and bought cluster mailboxes to place around town. But the Postal Service wasn’t interested in creating new routes, so the mailboxes have sat in storage ever since.
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