The United States Postal Service may close the Snug Harbor Post Office. Residents who use the office say they'll miss the less frenetic nature of their neighborhood post office, but many agreed the branch is underused.

Town Manager Richard MacDonald announced, at a recent Board of Selectmen meeting, saying that he'd received notice the office is on a list of sites across the nation that the Post Office is considering closing due to budgetary reasons.

“These increasingly turbulent economic times have continued to put a financial strain on postal operations,” wrote USPS Customer Relations Manager Nanette McCormack in a letter to MacDonald dated July 29. “Mail volume and revenue continue to decrease significantly.”

The Duxbury postmaster referred all calls to the regional post office facility in Duxbury.

Customers at the Snug Harbor office were mostly from the neighborhood, and said they'd miss the convenience of being able to walk to get their mail. Others said they'd miss the slower pace of Snug Harbor as compared to the main office in Hall's Corner. Some business owners said it would be an inconvenience to go to the main office to pick up their mail, unless the postal service started delivering the mail to individual buildings in Snug Harbor.

Lisa Loring, who uses the post office every day to pick up her mail at a PO box, said it would be “terrible” if the Snug Harbor branch closed.

“This post office has that old world charm and personality,” she said, adding that it was “never crowded.”

“It's very convenient for me,” said Margery MacMillian, who said she lives just a few doors down from the office. “It's just a godsend.”

Dawn Habgood said she would miss the post office if it closed, but said it wouldn't have a major impact on her business. She picks up business mail at Snug Harbor but has personal mail delivered at home.

“I think I would miss it more for nostalgic reasons,” she said. “It's convenient.”

This is not the first attempt to close the Snug Harbor Post Office, one in the late 60s and one in the early 70s, according to Duxbury Town Historian Tony Kelso.

The office was moved into its present location on Washington Street on Jan. 7, 1952. The building was designed for the Post Office by Oliver Barker (a well-known Duxbury architect and Planning Board member).  At the time one main reason for the move was the”ample parking,” Kelso said.  It shared space with the Duxbury Coal and Lumber store.

Previous to 1952, the office was located further up Washington St. near the corner of Fort Hill Lane in a series of buildings, one of which was later moved to Standish St. and made into a house.  The office had been in that location since at lest the 1860s, according to Kelso.

Duxbury has had a post office since 1800, Kelso said, when Judah Alden and one in his store on the corner of Alden and Tremont streets.

At one time, Duxbury had six post offices: Island Creek, North Duxbury, South Duxbury, West Duxbury, Millbrook, and in Standish Shore at the Standish Hotel. If Snug Harbor closes, the only remaining office will be South Duxbury at Hall's Corner.

Although residents who use the office will miss it, most said they understood the economic situation the Postal Service is in.

“I was afraid it might happen,” said MacMillian. “That's going to make it much worse at the other end [Hall's Corner.]”