goSmithsonian - February 2008 - (Page 56) THE BASICS HOURS: 10 a.m. t o 5:30 p.m.; closed December 25. ADDRESS: 2 Massachusetts Avenue at 1st Street, NE TEL: 202.633.1000 (voice/tape); 202.633.5285 (TTY) WEB: www.postalmuseum.si.edu METRO: ● Union Station National Postal Museum Located on Capitol Hill next to Union Station, the Beaux Arts-style building was designed by Daniel Burnham. From 1914 to 1986, it housed the Washington City Post Office. The National Postal Museum, with 23,000 square feet of exhibition space, occupies most of the lower level and includes a research library, a stamp store and a museum shop. HIGHLIGHTS In “Moving the Mail, see how a letter gets delivered to the depths of ” the Grand Canyon and how early airplane pilots found their way crosscountry in the dark. Climb aboard the full-size, big-rig truck cab in atrium, and explore the complex transportation web used to move the mail from one point to another. At the bronze sculpture of the dog called “Owney, located near the ” museum’s atrium, learn the story of the stray pup who became the mascot of the Railway Mail Service, traveling thousands of miles on the rails, picking up tags on his collar. Owney was adopted, fed and cared for by postal workers along the route. Just off the atrium, view three early mail-carrying airplanes: a 1936 Stinson Reliant, a 1919 de Havilland DH-4B and a 1911 WisemanCooke biplane. Test your crime-busting skills in the exhibition, “Postal Inspectors: The Silent Service, a spotlight on one of the oldest federal law enforce” ment agencies and its role in fighting crime from the earliest days of our nation to today. WHAT’S GOING ON: “Victory Mail” (opens March 6) M metro ® (RED LINE) This painting for the 1994 Buffalo Soldiers stamp is among the 76 pieces of original stamp artwork on display in “Trailblazers & Trendsetters: Art of the Stamp.” TOURS: For tour schedules, call 202-633-5535. Meet at the information desk, located near the first-floor escalator, for hour-long, drop-in tours that can accommodate up to 20 people; all tours are subject to docent availability. Personalize a free souvenir postcard See the rarest U.S. postage stamp 56 Check out the view from behind the wheel of this Freightliner truck cab-cutaway in “Networking a Nation.” www.goSmithsonian.com FAR LEFT: ARTIST: MORT KÜNSTLER; ART DIRECTOR: DERRY NOYES, UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE; COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL POSTAL MUSEUM http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu http://www.goSmithsonian.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.