ANNA MARIA – The Anna Maria Post Office reopened in its regular pre-hurricane location at 101B South Bay Boulevard on Oct. 6.
The leased, ground-level post office space experienced significant flood damage during the 2024 hurricanes. During the hurricane recovery efforts, a temporary post office was established across the street at City Pier Park and initially operated out of mail trucks parked beneath the shade sail structure.
The temporary post office at City Pier Park closed on Oct. 4. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The postal operations were later moved into an air-conditioned trailer delivered to the park property. The temporary post office closed at the end of business on Oct. 4 and a handwritten sign taped to the door instructs post office patrons to return to the regular location.
This sign is taped to the door of the now-closed temporary post office at City Pier Park. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
After opening the service desk’s accordion door on Monday morning, interim Postmaster Kristen Gray said, “Hopefully this feels more normal for our Anna Maria residents. We are working diligently to get it back to 100%.”
On Oct. 6, interim Postmaster Kristen Gray opened the accordion door to the now-active service desk. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Within minutes, Krista Carroll was the first patron to arrive at the service desk, where she turned in her key for her temporary P.O. box across the street and exchanged it for a key to her permanent box.
“I’m so excited for you guys,” Carroll told Gray.
“Thanks, it’s been a journey,” Gray responded.
“It’s great when anything gets back to normal after the hurricanes,” Carroll said.
Krista Carroll, right, was greeted by interim Postmaster Kristen Gray and Clerk Jonathon Lavigne. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Gray said P.O. box keys issued before the 2024 hurricanes should still work for the boxes inside the regular location. If your old key doesn’t work, go to the service desk and let them know. Gray asks that post-hurricane P.O. box keys issued for the temporary post office be returned to the service desk at 101B South Bay Blvd. Gray said she doesn’t yet have confirmation as to when the trailer will be removed from the park but she said its removal is already in the works.
The Anna Maria Post Office reopened at 101B South Bay Blvd. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The Anna Maria Post Office service desk is open Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. The lobby is open 24 hours a day and the P.O. boxes are always accessible.
ANNA MARIA – Friday, July 25 was Anna Maria Postmaster Sheila Brunger’s last day on the job.
After 31 ½ years with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), Brunger is retiring. After using her remaining vacation days and paid leave, her retirement becomes official on Oct. 31.
Brunger began doing temporary work for the postal service in 1988 and she became a full-time USPS employee in 1993. In 2007, she was named the Terra Ceia postmaster, working inside the small, still-standing historic post office building in northwest Manatee County. She was named Anna Maria postmaster in 2012 and assumed those duties in 2013, succeeding Postmaster Gloria Kincade.
A new Anna Maria postmaster has not been named yet and current Anna Maria Post Office employee Kristen Gray will serve as acting postmaster until a new postmaster is named.
July 25 was Sheila Brunger’s last day at the Anna Maria Post Office. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
When asked what she’ll miss most about being the Anna Maria postmaster, Brunger said, “I’m going to miss the community, the residents and the customers. And I really do love the mail, so I will miss that too. What I will not miss is the drive out here.”
While unable to provide an exact date, Brunger expects the hurricane-damaged post office on Pine Avenue to reopen soon. Until then, the Anna Maria Post Office continues to operate inside a large trailer parked across the street at City Pier Park. Anna Maria is the only city on Anna Maria Island that does not provide home mail delivery, which means residents, seasonal visitors and business owners must retrieve their mail from their P.O. boxes at the post office.
Brunger doesn’t have any big plans for the beginning of her retirement years.
“I’m going to relax. My husband, Scott, is going to retire next year and then I get to hang out with him,” she said on her final day.
One day earlier, on July 24, Brunger attended the Anna Maria City Commission meeting and Mayor Mark Short recognized her many years of service to the community. Before presenting Brunger with a framed copy, Short read aloud a city proclamation that recognized a career that included more than 12 years as the Anna Maria postmaster.
“During her tenure, Sheila provided outstanding and courteous service to the citizens of the city of Anna Maria, becoming a beloved and reliable figure in our community. The city of Anna Maria recognizes and appreciates the steadfast commitment to excellence, professionalism and community service. Therefore, I, Mark Short, mayor of the city of Anna Maria, do hereby recognize and honor Sheila Brunger for her exemplary career and dedicated service; and I extend our heartfelt congratulations to her retirement,” Short said when reading the proclamation.
ANNA MARIA – Operating inside a large trailer parked at City Pier Park, the temporary Anna Maria Post Office is now operating as a full-service postal facility.
Anna Maria Postmaster Sheila Brunger said on Dec. 11 that full-service postal operations began inside the trailer about three weeks ago. Prior to that, limited mail service was conducted out of mail trucks parked under the City Park shade sail.
The temporary post office now operates inside this trailer at City Pier Park. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Home mail delivery has never been available in Anna Maria and residents, property owners and business owners historically have retrieved their mail at the post office.
Brunger said the temporary post office contains 780 post office boxes. The hurricane-damaged post office building across the street on Pine Avenue contained approximately 2,000 and approximately 900 of those were in use when Hurricane Helene hit.
The temporary post office contains 780 P.O. boxes. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“If they had one over there, we transferred it over here. So, they have the same number, the same address and we reissued the keys to them beginning the Monday before Thanksgiving so they can pick up their own mail again,” Brunger said as a steady flow of residents passed through the temporary post office.
“It’s nice to be inside, but we’d rather be at home in our post office again,” she added.
Some restoration work has taken place at the main post office building. – Joe
Brunger doesn’t know yet when the hurricane-damaged post office will reopen but some restoration work has been done. On Dec. 12, an Andy’s Carpet Cleaning van was parked outside the post office building with a hose extending into the post office building. The storm surge-damaged drywall has been removed.
Time is running out to mail those Christmas gifts. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
When asked about holiday mailing, postal worker Kristen Gray said, “It’s Christmas time. Mail early.”
“Do it ASAP,” Brunger added. A sign affixed to the front door of the temporary post office lists Dec. 18-21 as the deadlines for gifts to arrive in time for Christmas using priority USPS shipping services.
ANNA MARIA – Anna Maria is the only city on Anna Maria Island that doesn’t have home and business mail delivery and folks in Anna Maria’s 34216 zip code seem to like it that way.
Anna Maria has its own 34216 zip code, but no home or business mail delivery. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Anna Maria residents, business owners, seasonal visitors and the city government all collect their mail at the Anna Maria Post Office at 101B South Bay Blvd.
Providing access to P.O. boxes, the post office lobby is open 24 hours a day. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
There isn’t much historical information available as to why the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) doesn’t provide home and business delivery in Anna Maria, but there are some theories that have been passed down over the years.
The most prevalent theory is that Anna Maria’s early residents and decision-makers didn’t want mailboxes cluttering the narrow city streets. Another theory is that they wanted their post office to serve as a place where community members could mingle and share community news and information.
USPS regional media contact Lecia Hall was unable to provide any information as to how or when it was decided that home and mail delivery would not happen in Anna Maria and Anna Maria Post Office employees were directed not to discuss postal service operations with the media.
Postal history
According to the Manatee Library Historical Digital Collection website, Anna Maria, the Island’s oldest city, got its first post office in 1904. It was located in Samuel Cobb’s home at the center of the Island – what is now Holmes Beach – with Cobb serving as postmaster.
The library collection includes an undated photograph of an early Anna Maria Post Office located in a cottage-like building with no specific date or location provided.
It’s not known when or where this photo of an early Anna Maria Post Office was taken. – Manatee Library Historical Digital Collection | Submitted
H.H. Whitehead became the Island’s second postmaster in 1915, followed by James Whitehead as postmaster in 1919. Anna Maria City Commissioner Harry Ditmus became the postmaster in 1922. In 1924, he began delivering mail in Bradenton Beach and Anna Maria, driving a truck that resembled a pioneer’s prairie schooner. The library collection includes a 1925 photo of Ditmus and his mail truck in front of the Bradenton Beach Post Office.
This 1925 photo features postmaster Harry Ditmus and his prairie schooner-inspired mail truck. – Manatee Library Historical Digital Collection
When Ditmus took a four-year break from 1932 to 1936, Eleanor Gill delivered mail around the Island in her 1932 station wagon.
Island historian Carolyne Norwood’s book, “Anna Maria Island – The Early Days,” also references the Island’s early postmasters and notes former Anna Maria Mayor Frances Warttig served as postmaster in the 1940s and 50s.
In 1955, a new Anna Maria post office opened at 9908 Gulf Drive, in the plaza space now occupied by the Nomad Collection boutique.
In 1955, the new Anna Maria Post Office at 9908 Gulf Drive was commemorated. – Manatee Library Digital Collection | Submitted
Ron Smith became an Anna Maria postal clerk in 1971 and served as Anna Maria’s postmaster from 1988-2001. In 2000, he oversaw the post office’s move to its current location before retiring in 2001.
For 45 years, the Anna Maria Post Office operated in the plaza at 9908 Gulf Dr. – Manatee Library Historical Digital Collection | SubmittedJudy Adams worked as an Anna Maria postal clerk for 23 years. – Manatee Library Historical Digital Collection | Submitted
2001 also marked the retirement of longtime postal clerk and still-current Anna Maria resident Judy Adams. Adams spent 23 years as an Anna Maria postal clerk and her father-in-law, Sam Adams, previously worked at the post office for 11 years.
Sheila Brunger is the current Anna Maria postmaster. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Danny Haynes succeeded Smith as postmaster, followed by Gloria Kincaid, who retired in 2011 and was succeeded by the current postmaster, Sheila Brunger.
Anna Maria Post Office
The Anna Maria Post Office service counter is open Monday through Friday, two hours on Saturday and closed on Sundays. The lobby is open 24 hours a day so mail recipients can access their mail. Anna Maria residents, homeowners, business owners and the city government get free post office boxes.
The Anna Maria Post Office provides a full-range of postal services. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
When contacted last week, Judy Adams was asked if she knows why Anna Maria residents don’t get home mail delivery.
“I don’t know anything official,” she said. “It’s all rumors, but the one I always heard was the streets are too narrow.”
Adams likes the security that post office boxes provide.
“It’s nice to have your own P.O. box that’s safe and secure, as opposed to being on the street. You don’t have to worry about your mail, or your mailbox being knocked down,” she said, adding that she also likes the sense of community post office boxes create. “That’s a good community tradition and we could use more community nowadays.”
Community support
Anna Maria City Commissioner Jon Crane said, “Surprisingly, the United States Post Office serves as a hub of community togetherness for our little city. I visit the post office almost every day and say ‘hi’ to the dedicated staff and my friends and neighbors while checking my mailbox. When I was gathering 10 signatures to support my recent application for election to the commission, I loitered in the lobby, gathered signatures and listened to the ideas my constituents had for improving the operation of the city. There are some neighbors I only see in the post office and I am always happy to see they’re happy and healthy.”
The Nomad Collection boutique now occupies the space utilized by the Anna Maria Post Office until 2000. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The city of Anna Maria has an encased city bulletin board attached to the post office building and it helps the city promote events and share information.
Anna Maria resident Barbara Murphy said, “I’ve never minded having to pick up our mail. It’s fun to see who you’ll run into that you haven’t seen in a while and catch up on local happenings.”
On Nov. 29, Anna Maria resident Tom Ehren stopped at the post office to get his mail and place a couple toys in the Toys for Tots collection bin.
“I look forward to getting my mail and I like the fact that we don’t have ugly mailboxes up and down the street,” he said.
Short-term parking is provided for post office users. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Ehren said he enjoys running into friends and neighbors at the post office and he’s friendly with the post office staff.
42-year Anna Maria resident Brent Van Winkle swings by the post office three or four times a week and doesn’t mind doing so.
“It’s a social event and I run into other residents and friends. I like the post office and everyone that works there is very helpful,” he said.
Duncan Real Estate owner Darcie Duncan said someone from her office picks up the business mail. She doesn’t oppose the post office boxes, but it can create challenges for the home delivery of packages.
