Rainier #18: Old Post Office Building

202 A Street East

Old Post Office Building on September 5, 2005.

On this corner once stood the Grand Hotel, a large 4-story wood frame building that was built in 1899 and destroyed by fire on July 27, 1924, just a month after the fire that destroyed the block on the other side of the street. Nothing was immediately rebuilt on the site, and it spent many years being used as a parking lot.

Historic view of A Street, looking west. The Grand Hotel is the large building on the left.
(Michael Clark collection, used with permission)

The current building was originally the U.S. Post Office in Rainier. It was the first post office in Rainier that was actually built to be a post office. Previously, the post office had been located in various buildings around town. Construction of the post office started on September 1, 1959. The post office moved into the 2,200-square-foot building in January 1960, and a dedication and open house was held on March 5, 1960. The Goble post office became a rural station operated from Rainier on March 1, 1960. This building served as Rainier’s post office until the current post office was built in the 1990s. It then became home to Tri-City Insurance, which is now Lower Columbia Insurance.

Continue to 19: U.S. Post Office…