Concerns over segregation display led to post office closure

MONTPELIER STATION, VA - The U.S. Postal Service has closed a small Virginia post office over concerns about its location inside a historic train depot that also serves as a museum about racial segregation.

In a statement on the closure, the postal service noted that the museum near former president James Madison’s Montpelier estate has two exterior doors, one with historical signage labeled “Whites” and another labeled “Colored.”

The Postal Service said management considered that some customers might wrongly associate the entrance signs with the current operations of the post office.

A spokesperson for The Montpelier Foundation called on the postal service to reconsider its decision, noting the exhibit and the post office have co-existed since 2010.

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