USPS celebrates official reopening of Logan Post Office

Postmaster Krista Murray cut the ceremonial ribbon, marking the official reopening of Logan's Post Office, following a speech by acting Manager of Post Office Operations Tyler Jackson.

Robert Fields | WVOW News

LOGAN, WV The United States Postal Service cut the ribbon this morning celebrating the reopening of the Logan Post Office.

The building has been closed since flooding in February forced operations to move to Stollings. USPS District Manager for Kentucky and West Virginia Derek Strissel said Thursday that, regardless of where operations happen to be based, the Postal Service’s unofficial motto still holds: “Rain, sleet, snow or hail, nothing stops the U.S. Mail.

“One of the things about a Post Office is we always serve the community,” he said. “The physical building – sometimes people look to that as being a substantial part of their community, but really the Post Office is in every community, whether it be a carrier in that every day or the physical presence of a building.”

But, he says, it’s good to have the nearly 90-year-old facility up and running again.

The picture above shows the site of what would later become the Logan Post Office. The cornerstone for the building was laid in 1936.

“The Post Office is the heartbeat of the community when we have it,” said Strissel.

“It’s where people gather. It’s where communication and everything happens. In some communities, it’s the life of the community, so we’re celebrating that return to this particular community in Logan, West Virginia, and we’re excited to have our carriers home and have our employees be able to serve the community.”

City of Logan Mayor Serafino Nolletti says it’s been a long road, but the work needed done, especially with the temporary working conditions at the Stollings facility raising concerns with colder weather right around the corner.

“It’s been a long, long process; everybody’s worked hard together to make this happen today. It was a huge inconvenience for all of us – downtown businesspeople, courthouse folks and the employees of the Post Office, it was hard on them too. They were working out of a tent during the summer, and winter was coming up. We didn’t want them to have to be working in a tent during the wintertime,” the mayor said.

“It just shows you what can happen when people work together. Postal officials have been great to work with. It’s just a proud day, a proud day to have this post office.”

The Logan Post Office will start back with their normal retail hours of 8:30am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday and 10:00am to 1:00pm on Saturdays.

PHOTOS | Robert Fields