Little Post Office
Also known as: VDHR File No. 120-47
Why it's listed
Built in 1893 at 207 Starling Avenue, this small gable-fronted brick building in Martinsville, Virginia, served as a contract post office until 1917. Its builder, John B. Anglin, was a mail contractor who held hundreds of star route contracts, the horse-and-wagon delivery routes that carried mail from rail depots to rural post offices. By 1895 he held over three hundred routes in five states, and he ran this business from the office. The Queen Anne detailing includes corbeled brick openings, a molded cornice, stained-glass panes in the front door and an iron mail slot marked "Letters." A frame wing was joined to the rear in the mid-twentieth century. After the Anglins left for Oklahoma in 1917, later owners used the building for storage and then as a private office, and a rehabilitation was completed in 1995. The property is valued locally for its link to the postal service's star route era and as a well-known Martinsville landmark.
Significance in brief: The building is tied to the star route mail delivery system, the main method of rural mail delivery in the late nineteenth century. Contractor John B. Anglin built it in 1893 to help oversee hundreds of star route contracts across many states. It is a small, finely detailed Queen Anne building and a known local landmark.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 97000150, listed February 21, 1997. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 207 Starling Ave., Martinsville (Independent City) |
|---|---|
| County | Martinsville |
| Listed | February 21, 1997 |
| Reference number | 97000150 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1893-1917 |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Politics/Government |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Rehabilitated in 1995; the interior is now used as a private office and the property is listed with a current domestic secondary-structure function. |
| Acreage | 2.4 |
| Within district | East Church Street-Starling Avenue Historic District |
| Coordinates | 36.68499, -79.86552 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 97000150.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q16894205
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.