POPLARVILLE — After nearly four years of operating out of a temporary mobile unit, the Poplarville Post Office is getting a new, permanent location. The new facility is expected to open in April 2026.  

The U.S. Postal Service plans to lease space in a strip mall on Main Street, taking over a site previously occupied by a Ramey’s Grocery Store. The federal agency — an independent entity under the executive branch — will use federal funds to build the new post office. 

City officials said the move will restore full postal services to the Poplarville area, which has relied on a mobile unit since 2022. 

Years of delay and red tape 

The original post office, a historic building constructed in 1941 with support from the U.S. Treasury Department and the Works Progress Administration, was closed after extensive termite damage was discovered in January 2022. It was closed later that year. 

City officials said they had little control over the replacement project’s timeline because the U.S. Postal Service owns the property and manages repairs, a process that must be approved by the USPS headquarters in Washington. 

For several years, Mayor Louise Smith said the city saw little movement on the project as residents grew increasingly frustrated. In August 2025, she sent emails to President Donald Trump, Postmaster General David Steiner and other officials, emphasizing the urgent need to restore such a critical piece of local infrastructure.  

Eventually, she received a response from Tehlung Liu, design and construction project manager for the U.S. Postal Service, who confirmed plans to begin construction in October on a new Poplarville Main Post Office at 935 S. Main St. 

Residents welcome progress 

Lou Anne Lea, a Poplarville retiree, said finally getting answers about the next steps in the process is a relief. 

“I’m happy about it,” Lea said. “I have reservations about how they’re going to turn this place into a respectable county seat post office.” 

Smith said the mobile unit is parked beside the old post office, where roots of a nearby magnolia tree have caused several people to trip or fall.

“I stop, and there’s always somebody older than me, and it’s dangerous to walk down the way it’s setup to get to the window of that truck,” Lea said.  

In response, the city installed a hazard fence near the sidewalk to reduce accidents.  

Pam Applewhite LaHaye, a longtime resident and local business owner, said it wasn’t just customers who were impacted. She said postal workers in the mobile unit didn’t have a bathroom and dealt with air conditioning issues.  

“To me, the whole process has been very unfair,” LaHaye said. “To the workers, to the customers and for (USPS) not to have maintained and taken care of their building that (was) an old, beautiful, historic building in Poplarville.” 

Goals for new location 

Smith said, although Poplarville is a small town, its post office serves a wide area.  

“That code actually serves 13,000 citizens,” she said. “It’s not just our 3,000 residents who are affected by what the services (are) right now.” 

That high use, Lea said, made parking near the temporary van difficult, and a permanent facility will make visiting the post office safer and easier. 

LaHaye said safety will continue to be a top priority for the new location. She recalled multiple accidents in the parking lot where the new post office will be. 

“There were accidents in that parking lot all the time because a parking lot is not big enough,” she said.  

She said it’s an issue USPS should consider in its design plans.  

Smith said the city remains committed to ensuring the facility is safe, accessible and ready to meet the needs of the community. 

“We’re just wanting the community to know what we know,” Smith said. “We hope that when we have that completion date that all of our services will be restored and that the postal services will be accessible to all.”