National Postal Museum
Washington, DC
10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily
Closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 20
Admission is free
About
Located in the historic D.C. City Post Office next to the restored Union Station, the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum showcases the largest and most comprehensive collection of stamps and philatelic material in the world—including postal stationery, vehicles used to transport the mail, mailboxes, meters, cards and letters, and postal materials that predate the use of stamps. Visitors can walk along a Colonial post road, ride with the mail in a stagecoach, browse through a small town post office from the 1920s, receive free stamps to start a collection and more.
Highlights
Three vintage mail planes; stagecoach; 1931 Ford Model A postal truck; replica of a railway car; William H. Gross Stamp Gallery, the world’s largest stamp gallery where children can trace the journeys of historic letters, create a virtual stamp collection, and design their own stamp.
Getting Here
We encourage the use of Metrorail and Metrobus.
Metrorail
Metro Station: Union Station (Mass. Ave. exit)
Nearest Accessible Metro Entrance:
Union Station
East Side of First St., NE (Entrance to Amtrak)
Check Metrorail's Elevator and Escalator Service Status page for service disruptions.
MetroAccess
To provide an address for MetroAccess Paratransit, please use 2 Massachusetts Ave., NE.
Parking
There is no public parking facility for the museum. Street parking is available near the museum and all-day paid parking is available at Union Station, located next to the museum.
Dining and Shopping
Dining
While this location does not have dining, view dining options at our other locations.
Shopping
Find fun museum merchandise in the museum store or online.
Accessibility
See Getting Here for information on accessible parking and public transportation.
Accessibility Information and Programs
Disability access service requests: NPMTours@si.edu
Sort By: OpeningClosing View By: display results as listdisplay results as grid
- Voting by Mail: Civil War to Covid-19
- Baseball: America's Homerun
- Behind the Badge
- Mail Marks History
- Stamps Around the Globe
- National Stamp Salon
- Gems of American Philately
- World of Stamps
- Connect with U.S. Stamps
- Systems at Work
- Mail Call
- Airmail in America
- Binding the Nation
- Moving the Mail
- Customers and Communities