Postal Service May Close Office In Tiny Idaho Town

With Postmaster Val Goetz retiring at the end of the month, the U.S. Postal Service has determined “maintenance of an independent office at Viola may not be warranted.”

After more than a century of mail delivery, the tiny town seven miles north of Moscow could be losing its zip code. A town hall meeting is planned on the issue Aug. 13.

“We all need to be there if we want to save our post office,” reads a cardboard sign tacked beside the postmaster’s window.

Local residents were informed in a recent letter from the Postal Service that with the workload declining, the post office now qualifies for only 36 hours of service per week.

Viola used to have three grocery stores, a gas pump, bar, dance hall and brick hotel. With those businesses gone, it now is a community of retirees and people who commute to Moscow.

If the Postal Service switches from a post office to rural routes delivering mail directly to homes, Viola will switch to Moscow’s zip code. Ironically, Viola was settled before Moscow existed.