Bisbee Has Everything You Could Want… Except For THIS

Bisbee is one of Arizona's most interesting cities.  From the population boom in the early 19th century, to its status as a haven for starving artists in the modern day, it's become a must-see location for anyone passing through southern Arizona.

For as famed and historic as the city is, there is one thing they're missing, but that's only added to the city's historic allure.

"Neither Snow nor Rain nor Heat nor Gloom of Night..."

Above you can read the opening to the unofficial Postal Service creed. It shows the service's resilience and drive to deliver your mail on time and without delay. Unfortunately, there is one thing that can stop the USPS, and that is elevated terrain.

The hills Bisbee is built on were determined to be too much of an obstacle for USPS workers, who are usually laden with several pounds of mail. As such, no at-home delivery was ever available for the residents of this quaint mining town.

The Legend of Bisbee's "Bar Bear"

Get our free mobile app

Absence Breeds Innovation

So, Bisbee has no at-home delivery for mail. Where on earth are residents supposed to pick up their postage, then? That would be the Bisbee Post Office, located directly beneath the historic Copper Queen Library. Since everyone needed to get their mail from P.O. Boxes at this location, Bisbee became the Post Office with the largest number of P.O. Boxes in the country.

Aside from that, the Bisbee Post Office was also the first (and only at the time) to have an all-female staff. Who would have guessed that the inability for postal workers to climb mountains would have created new parts of history for Bisbee to take place in.

[City of Bisbee][Society of Architectural Historians]