Medway's Post- Post Office Era

Above the tiny lobby at Village Street underscores the lack of sufficient P O boxes and many services associated with a full service post office.

Dennis Crowley, Clerk of the Select Board in the Town of Medway, is involved with many town activities, but one of the ones that has been most frustrating is the post office. Just over a year ago, with no warning, the Medway Post Office on Route 109 opposite The Muffin House, closed up and disappeared without warning or explanation.

Since that time, Crowley has learned that the property as a whole had been acquired for development by Kevin Meehan, a Mendon-based businessman. The post office lease was up for renewal so Meehan reportedly offered to renew the lease for another year. But the postal service declined to consider that option. He then offered a month-to-month arrangement, allowing the post office to stay open while looking for an alternate location. That, too, was scuppered by postal officials.

So, the post office closed, leaving only a small branch office, next to a pizza place, on Village Street.

Although that facility is certainly valued, Crowley said it is not treated as a full post office by the postal service. If a Medway resident isn’t home when a package arrives that requires a signature, they now must travel to Route 140 in Bellingham , a drive Crowley said takes at least 20 minutes. Ditto when mail deliveries need to be suspended.

And last year, the tiny Medway branch ran out of stamps.

Crowley has a long litany of other shortcomings including location at a busy and dangerous intersection, inadequate parking, no handicap parking, and no ADA accessibility. Oh, and it is also tiny – about 500 square feet, he estimates.

In his view, it should be enlarged and placed more centrally where there is better accessibility for all – like the shopping plaza on Route 109.

But, so far, nothing has happened.

“I was pleased that Senator Markey got involved recently, as did Congressman McGovern,”he said. Joined by Senator Warren and other state members of Congress, they dispatched a letter to the USPS. But, again, there’s been no action.

All that is clear from the USPS is that Medway is not likely to again have a full-service posts office, Crowley said. It is a fate that has been meted out to other municipalities as the USPS grapples with high and rising costs and looks for places to save money.

But Crowley is not giving up and continues to make the case for Medway to authorities and political figures alike.