Last updated: October 29, 2022
Place
Post Office
NPS / Hannah Schwalbe
Quick Facts
In this remote and secluded settlement, the post office played an important role as a lifeline to the rest of the world. The current post office building was built in May 1934 and is still in operation today! Tiles for the office were made on-site using local sand.
Connection
During the first 103 years of the Hansen's Disease settlement, patients were forced into isolation and unable to leave the peninsula. A post office allowed some patients to keep a connection to their families and communities beyond the settlement. Before the current post office was built in 1934, another building existed called the Kalawao U.S. Post Office. Today the post office is still frequently used and remains an important resource for residents as the only way to regularly ship items into the settlement. For many visitors, a highlight is to mail postcards from the settlement so they can have the cancellation stamp indicating Kalaupapa.
Mail Fumigation
Before the cure for Hansen's disease, the Board of Health had a strict protocol for handling the mail going in and out of the settlement. Outgoing mail had all four corners cut off. Letters were placed on a screen inside a sealed box. Under the screen was a cup of potassium permanganate to which formaldehyde was added. The operator quickly closed the lid to form an air-tight seal. The mail was left in the box for 18 hours. This fumigation process went on for years but was never shown to be effective in 'decontaminating' mail. Eventually, this practice ended.