Topanga Post Office Welcomes a New Postmaster | |
Topanga Post Office Welcomes a New PostmasterIn the long and storied history of the Topanga Post Office, with delivery over miles of twisty roads and narrow trails, it is wonderful to know that the community has a brand-new Postmaster.
Romeo E. Concepción began the job in August, 2023 and along with his staff of ten, he offers service with a smile.
Concepción is so dedicated to the job that he travels in daily from the Moreno Valley, which is a 1.5-hour drive coming to Topanga and a 3.5-hour drive going home! (His other choice was as postmaster in Sonora, CA, a six-hour drive one-way.)
Concepción is committed to serving the Topanga community with rural free delivery for the more than 12,000 residents in addition to managing several hundred post office boxes. Prior to working for the post office, Concepción served four years in the Navy in San Diego before applying for a job at the post office, where he has worked for the past 30 years.
“I applied for the job and took the test, and luckily, I passed with flying colors,” he said.
Concepción’s current challenge in Topanga is negotiating a new lease with the landlord and making sure that vital repairs, such as a leaky roof and damp basement, get done on the building. He credits community leader Susan Nissman with recently getting the post office building power-washed to remove decades of dirt and “spider webs.”
Concepción also praised community leader Roger Pugliese, of TASC and the Topanga Trash Warriors, to help keep the post office open in that location. Topanga Postmaster Romeo Concepción has been on the job since August. He is now renegotiating the lease on the post office building and also looking for two rural carrier assistants to join the staff. |
Will the Topanga Post Office Close?
Asked if the Topanga Post Office is closing, Concepción said “No. It takes two to three years to close a Post Office location,” he said. “These things don’t just happen overnight.”
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U.S., its insular areas, and its associated states.
When the Constitution was ratified in 1789, the Postal Clause in Article I, Section 8, gave Congress the power “To establish Post Offices and Post Roads” and “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper” for executing this task. By law, the Postal Service has an obligation to provide universal service—that is, to deliver mail to “as nearly as practicable the entire population of the United States.”
This required that the USPS deliver to more addresses each year, even as fewer pieces of mail are being delivered. Therefore, even though the Topanga P.O. loses revenue each year, it is not listed for closure in California.  | A Short History of Topanga’s Post Office
According to The Topanga Story, Topanga’s first Postal service began in the 1880s when Tony von Arnswaldt volunteered to ride his horse from Red Rock Canyon to pick up the daily mail.
On March 7, 1908, an official post office service began. Residents submitted the names “Garapatos” and “Topanga” for the name of the new community, but the postal officials made the determination to name the post office (and thus the community) “Topanga.”
At the time, the Post Office was located in an old ranch house that also served as a General Store.
A man by the name of Simonds was the first known settler of what would be called the Post Office Tract. In 1886, he hauled redwood planks and square nails over the Santa Maria Trail and built a home for his wife and two daughters that became the first Topanga Post Office in 1908, now the location for Pine Tree Circle.
For the full story of “Tales of the Mail” about the Topanga Post Office, please go to “The Topanga Story,” published by The Topanga Historical Society, Expanded Edition, available for purchase at topangahistoricalsociety.org.
The Post Office is Hiring
The new Postmaster is also looking for two new Rural Carrier Assistants, to work various hour shifts. These U.S. Postal Service positions offer a salary of $19.94 per hour.
To apply, go to usps.com/careers and use the keyword “Topanga.” The Topanga Post Office phone is (310) 455-0254. | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
|
|
|
|
