Severna Park Post Office Leaves Behind Long History

By Darrell Mak
Another chapter of the Severna Park Post Office quietly came to a close on February 14 when the post office shut its doors for good at its facility on Baltimore & Annapolis Boulevard. It had been a local landmark there for nearly a half century, before moving to its new location at 21 Magothy Bridge Road, next to the USPS Distribution Center.
As the last remaining minutes ticked away, postal patrons scurried to get inside before the doors were locked - not unlike any other day at closing time. There was no display of commemoration or objection as the Severna Park Post Office’s doors were locked for the very last time.

The U.S. Postal Service says the local post office is being moved “to maximize efficiency,” according to Freda Sauter, a spokesperson for the Postal Service’s Baltimore region.
While some residents seemed ambivalent with the move, others clearly weren’t too happy. “I’m disappointed. It won’t be as convenient,” said Brooke Henderson, a long-time Severna Park resident who has rented a post office box at the Severna Park location for the past two years. She, along with other postal patrons will have to make the extra 2.1-mile trip to get to the new location.
The decision to relocate was mostly based on expected cost savings - the previous space was leased - and Sauter says the post office will “take advantage of a surplus in space” at the new location, which already serves as a distribution center and is owned by the Postal Service. Sauter said the lease on the old building expired in February 2011, and the Postal Service decided not to renew it.
“I understand the cost issue,” acknowledged Henderson.
The post office takes a long, dated history to its new home. What is known today as the Severna Park Post Office was first established on April 7, 1914 as the Boone Post Office, named after the town’s early landowners, and was located in a small section of Grotzky's General Store at 4 Riggs Avenue.
As the years passed, the post office outgrew its original spaces, and a larger building was completed in July 1919 to house an expanded post office as well as the Boone Train Station.
On July 11, 1921 the name of the railroad station was changed to Severna Park, and the post office changed its name on June 16, 1925, to the Severna Park Post Office. From 1925 through 1950, the Severna Park Rail Station continued to serve both as the railroad station and post office, until February 5, 1950 when the last passenger train completed its run on the railway.
Although it quickly began running out of space again, the post office continued to occupy the rail station building until 1951 when it was moved to the Dawson's store. The Dawson brothers, Cliff and Tommy, ran a variety store in Severna Park, which was first located in the Grotzky building, but the Dawsons later built a larger facility, where Dawson’s Liquors stands today, to house the store and the post office.
The post office’s operations continued to grow over the years, forcing it to look for an even larger space, and in 1962 it built a new building on Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard, where it remained until February 14, 2011.
The following is a timeline of the Severna Park Post Office:
1914 – Boone Post Office established at Grotzky’s Store
1919 – Post Office moved to new Railroad Building
1925 – Post Office name change from Boone to Severna Park Post Office
1951 – Post Office moved into Dawson’s Country Store
1962 – Post Office builds new facility at 535 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd.
2011 – Post Office moves to Magothy Bridge Road Distribution Center