It’s official: Harbeson Post Office is open

U.S. Postal Service employees and guests joined with U.S. Sen. Tom Carper and Sussex County Councilman Irwin “I.G.” Burton on a rainy Oct. 30 to cut a ribbon to commemorate the opening of the new Harbeson Post Office.

The new modular post office is located at 18865 Harbeson Road, about one-half mile south of the Route 9 intersection. It replaces the old facility that closed nearly two years ago.

Carper said the post office has always been important to him, with several family members working for the postal service where he grew up in West Virginia.

This year, the senator added, the efforts of postal workers are even more critical because half of voters in the general election were expected to vote by mail. “The infrastructure is in place to vote by mail, and it's going to continue to occur in the future. It's a new world, and the postal service is here to make it happen,” he said.

Anita Koskinas, who has been Harbeson postmaster for 31 years, said the project took longer than expected. “But the good news is we are back,” she said. “And we have a lot more business than we thought we would.”

The old post office at the intersection of Route 9 and Harbeson Road closed Dec. 29, 2018, to make way for construction of a Royal Farms convenience store.

Before it closed, during a meeting with Harbeson residents, postal service officials said it would take about a year to select a new location and get a post office.

When the post office closed, all of its business and 200 post office boxes were transferred to the Georgetown Post Office.

Construction and site work began at the Harbeson Road site when a modular building was delivered June 5. The post office opened Sept. 28.

Several months of the process were tied up in site-plan and rezoning approvals from Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission and Sussex County Council.