Enjoy a vast collection of stamps, postal artifacts and informative exhibits for all ages at this free museum.
Since its opening in 1993 in the historic City Post Office Building, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum has served to honor and celebrate America’s proud postal history.
Tucked beside Union Station at the edge of DC’s NoMa & Union Market neighborhood, the museum is one of the city’s true treasures. Within its soaring, 90-foot high atrium and ample gallery spaces, it houses a vast collection of stamps, rare artifacts and interactive exhibits that reveal how mail has connected people across the country and around the world for generations.
What’s inside the Smithsonian National Postal Museum?
Whether it be early automobiles on dirt roads, stagecoaches chugging across the country, prop planes in the skies above or being pulled by actual horsepower, guests will take a walk through history and see how mail has been transported in a variety of eye-catching displays.
Visitors to the Postal Museum will also discover the art of stamp making and design and how to start their own collection, allowing patrons to see the diversity of postage from around the globe. Collectors will marvel at the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery, the largest of its kind.
The Postal Museum houses an atrium sporting a 90-foot-high ceiling and vital objects from the postal past. Three airmail planes hang overhead, while a stagecoach from 1851 and a 1932 Ford Model A postal truck also adorn the room. Take a journey on a colonial post road, browse through a 1920s-style post office and experience the National Philatelic Collection, which features more than 5.9 million items.
How do I access the National Postal Museum? What are its opening hours?
No tickets are required, and like all Smithsonian museums, admission is free. The National Postal Museum is open from 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. daily. December 25 is the only day of the year that the museum is closed.
Where is the National Postal Museum? How do I get there?
The National Postal Museum resides at 2 Massachusetts Avenue NE. Street parking is available nearby and all-day paid parking can be had at Union Station, located right next to the museum. If you elect to use public transportation, take the Metro's Red Line to Union Station and use the Massachusetts Avenue exit – the museum is across the street.
The museum is accessible by wheelchair, with ramps at its 1st Street entrance and North Capitol Street entrance, via the U.S. Post Office.
Are there events at the National Postal Museum? Can I take a tour?
Yes! Check the events calendar to find dates and times for docent-led highlights tours, family-friendly story time and more public programming.
What is the poem engraved on the building?
One of the National Postal Museum’s hidden gems is a poem etched into the building’s exterior. Titled "The Letter" and originally written by Dr. Charles W. Eliot (1834–1926), it was slightly revised by President Woodrow Wilson before being inscribed:
Messenger of Sympathy and Love
Servant of Parted Friends
Consoler of the Lonely
Bond of the Scattered Family
Enlarger of the Common Life
Carrier of News and Knowledge
Instrument of Trade and Industry
Promoter of Mutual Acquaintance
Of Peace and of Goodwill Among Men and Nations
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