Frauenfeld, Switzerland

The post office in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, in a hand-tinted postcard mailed in 1907.

Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK

The Bradford post office and two young lads who wanted to be in the picture, from a 1904 postcard from H. Graham Glen of Wortley, Leeds. Branford was an Industrial Revolution boomtown, and remembered as the home town of the literary Bronte sisters, composer Frederick Delius, actor Michael Rennie and artist David Hockney.

Fort Dodge, IA

You have to love the twin towers on the Fort Dodge, Iowa, post office, topped with what look like little hats. Too cute for words.

Fort Dodge is also famous for drywall, patented by a Fort Dodge resident, and the “Deer Lady” — said to dwell in the woods near Mason Drive — a shape-shifter from Native American myth who has the features of a young woman save for her feet, which are shaped like deer hooves, and brown deer’s eyes. Men lured into her presence see too late that she’s not a natural woman and are stomped to death. What a town!

Monterrey, N.L., Mexico

A post office that befits the capital city of the state of Nuevo Leon, from a postcard mailed in 1952.

Petersburg, South Australia

The inland town of Petersburg, South Australia, started to take shape around 1870, and by 1880 the town had its own post office, shown here in a postcard from the early 1900s. In 1917, during the first World War, Petersburg was one of many places in Australia that was renamed to remove any hint of German influence. Since then, the town has gone by the name of Peterborough. You have to love the young girl on the porch to the left, and to the lady on the far right, one can only say, “Nice hat.”

Lancaster & York, PA

The post office in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a city faintly famed for being the U.S. capital for one day when the Continental Congress met there in September 1777. (The colonial government had withdrawn from Philadelphia to escape approaching British troops, and stopped in Lancaster for a day before moving on to York, Pennsylvania, whose awninged fortress of a post office is shown below.) These buildings, however, had nothing to do with the Continental Congress and are here primarily for their towers.

Moscow, Russia

The post office in Moscow, from the days when Russia was ruled by the Czars.

Sioux City, IA

Built in 1897 from designs by architects Jeremiah O’Rourke and William Martin Aiken, this post office is today the city hall of Sioux City, Iowa. The post office moved to a new building in 1933; the building was partially demolished in 1995, but remnants, including the tower, were incorporated into the new city hall.

Lee, Devon, England

Two views of the old post office in Lee, near Ilfracombe, in Devon, England.

Clogheen, Ireland

How can one resist a post office with pigs?! Welcome to Clogheen, a market town on the rivers Taar and Duag, tributaries of the Suir, equidistant from Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny and Limerick, and the gateway to the Vee. I am loving the split door that keeps the pigs out but allows the patrons to whistle in and collect mail.