Post Offices in Delaware Are Federal, Not State-Run

Every post office in Delaware belongs to the United States Postal Service (USPS), an independent federal agency. The state government does not staff, fund or license these counters. Congress created the current structure in the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, and the governing rules sit in Title 39 of the U.S. Code. A stamp, a PO Box or a money order therefore works the same way in Dover as it does in Denver.

What changes from place to place is the building, the counter hours and the extra services each location offers. Our directory lists 63 Delaware post offices, from busy Wilmington branches to small village offices with a single clerk. Knowing how the system is organised saves you a wasted trip.

Day-to-day operations run through USPS regional and district management, not through the state capital. A Board of Governors appointed by the President sets broad policy, and the Postal Regulatory Commission reviews rates and service standards. Mail theft, fraud and tampering fall to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which is a federal law enforcement agency.

State agencies still depend on the mail. The Delaware Division of Revenue and the Department of Elections both send and receive official paperwork through the postal system, so postmarks and delivery times can matter for filings and ballots. If a package is late or a counter is closed, though, only USPS can fix it. Start with the office's own phone number. If that stalls, call the national help line at 1-800-275-8777. Delaware's members of Congress also run constituent services that can push a stuck case along.

Delaware has only three counties, yet the mail experience differs a lot between them. Our database has the most listings in New Castle County, followed by Sussex County and Kent County. New Castle holds Wilmington and most of the state's population. Kent centres on Dover and a belt of farm towns. Sussex covers the southern third of the state, with crossroads villages, poultry country and Atlantic beach resorts.

Wilmington and Northern New Castle County Offices

Wilmington has more listings than any other Delaware city. North of the city, the Greenville Post Office at 3801 Kennett Pike (302-652-5449) serves the Greenville area. The Montchanin Post Office at 101 Stone Block Road (302-652-5666) sits in the same part of northern New Castle County, yet our records file its address under Greenville. Check the ZIP Code on your mail rather than guessing from a village name.

The same pattern shows up across the county. The Yorklyn Post Office at 1149 Yorklyn Road (302-239-2702) is listed under Hockessin. The Delaware City Post Office at 54 Clinton Street (302-834-4716) appears with "Delaware" as its city in our records. In Newark, the Federal Post Office at 110 East Main Street (302-368-4541) stands on the downtown main street close to the University of Delaware campus. Expect longer lines around the start and end of the semester.

Elsewhere in the county, the Bear Post Office at 125 Rickey Boulevard (302-838-5006) serves a largely suburban area. The Manor Post Office at 100 McMullen Avenue in New Castle (302-328-5893) handles mail for its own neighbourhood. In the northeast corner, the Claymont Post Office at 3430 Philadelphia Pike (302-798-6671) sits on the busy US 13 corridor, close to the Pennsylvania line. Metro offices usually have longer lobby hours and more services than their rural counterparts, but they also draw bigger crowds.

Dover and Kent County: Capital City and Farm Towns

The Dover Post Office at 55 Loockerman Plaza (302-734-5822) is the main downtown listing in the state capital. Because Dover is the seat of state government, many businesses and agencies in the area send a steady flow of outbound mail. Dover is also the county seat of Kent County, so the downtown counter is a natural first stop if you live nearby and need full retail service.

Outside the capital, Kent County is a chain of small-town offices. Our database includes the Cheswold Post Office at 262 East Main Street (302-678-1876) and the Clayton Post Office at 12 Railroad Avenue (302-653-7376). It also lists the Felton Post Office at 1 East Sewell Street (302-284-9826), the Frederica Post Office at 128 Front Street (302-335-5524) and the Harrington Post Office at 2 Commerce Street (302-398-3577). Many small-town offices keep shorter hours than city branches, and some close at midday. A quick call before you leave can save a second trip.

Sussex County: Beach Resorts and Crossroads Towns

Georgetown is the Sussex County seat, and its post office at 115 South King Street (302-856-3647) is a central stop for the county's inland towns. Near the coast, the Nassau Post Office at 5 Point Drive in Lewes (302-645-2565) and the Bethany Beach Post Office at 14 North Pennsylvania Avenue (302-539-9874) serve communities where the population swells in summer. Seasonal visitors and second-home owners often ask to hold or forward mail, so these counters can get busy from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Inland, the listings read like a map of small towns. The Frankford Post Office at 1 Main Street is filed under Millsboro (302-732-6891), and the Dagsboro Post Office is at 28290 Clayton Street (302-732-9404). The Bethel Post Office is at 7748 Main Street (302-875-4461), the Bridgeville Post Office at 300 Walnut Street (302-337-7354) and the Ellendale Post Office at 508 Main Street (302-422-4900). Others include the Greenwood Post Office at 2 Market Street (302-349-4006) and the Harbeson Post Office at 26454 Lewes Georgetown Highway (302-684-3295).

The Delmar Post Office at 101 East Grove Street (302-846-3170) is worth a note because the town straddles the Delaware-Maryland line. Include the state abbreviation on every address so letters are not sorted to the Maryland side of town.

What to Bring and How to Plan a Delaware Post Office Visit

A little preparation makes any visit faster. These steps apply at nearly every Delaware location:

Small offices in places such as Bethel, Ellendale or Cheswold may not stock every product, so ask ahead if you need a specific box size or service. For a full list of offices near you, browse the pages for New Castle County, Kent County and Sussex County, then call the office you plan to visit.

Post offices in Delaware are part of the national USPS network, operating under regional district management to deliver uniform service standards while accommodating the specific needs of urban, suburban, and rural communities across the state. Larger cities in Delaware may have multiple post offices and main processing facilities.

Post Office locations are available in 49 cities across Delaware. They are spread across 3 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration of post office locations include Wilmington, New Castle, Newark, reflecting densely populated areas with multiple branch offices serving different neighborhoods and zip codes.

Residents of Delaware can use the USPS website to find the closest post office, check current lobby and window hours, locate self-service kiosks available after hours, and track incoming and outgoing mail and packages from their phones or computers.

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Residents of Delaware can save time by using USPS online tools to schedule package pickups from home, print prepaid shipping labels, and set up mail forwarding or hold requests without visiting a post office. When visiting a post office in Delaware for passport acceptance, call ahead to confirm that the specific location offers the service and whether an appointment is required.

Browse Post Office by county across Delaware to find the nearest location.

Delaware Mail Basics: ZIP Prefixes, Postmarks and Seasonal Rushes

Every Delaware ZIP Code begins with 197, 198 or 199. Codes starting with 197 and 198 cover New Castle County, including Newark, Bear, New Castle and Wilmington, while 199 covers Kent and Sussex counties. Delaware is compact, so most residents live a short drive from a counter. Village addresses can still be confusing. The Yorklyn office is filed under Hockessin, and the Montchanin office uses a Greenville street address. Match the ZIP Code to the office before you drive.

Timing matters more than distance. Beach-area offices around Lewes and Bethany Beach are busiest on summer weekends, and offices statewide fill up before the December holidays and the April tax deadline. If a postmark date matters, ask the clerk for a hand-cancelled postmark and consider Certified Mail for a dated receipt. Rural offices in Kent County and Sussex County often have short counter hours, so call first and plan around their schedule rather than assuming city-style service.

No. Every post office in Delaware is operated by the United States Postal Service, an independent federal agency. The state and its counties do not staff or fund these offices. State agencies such as the Division of Revenue and the Department of Elections send and receive mail, but they cannot fix a delivery problem or change a post office's hours. For complaints, start with the local office, such as the Dover Post Office at 302-734-5822, then escalate to the national USPS help line at 1-800-275-8777 if the issue is not resolved.

Both villages have their own small offices, even though the mailing cities in our records differ from the village names. The Yorklyn Post Office is at 1149 Yorklyn Road and is filed under Hockessin (302-239-2702). The Montchanin Post Office is at 101 Stone Block Road and is filed under Greenville (302-652-5666). The nearby Greenville Post Office at 3801 Kennett Pike (302-652-5449) is a separate location. If you are unsure which one handles your address, check the ZIP Code on your mail or call the office before you go.

Some Delaware post offices act as passport acceptance facilities, but not all of them do, and small village offices are less likely to offer it. Check usps.com or call the office you plan to visit, such as the Federal Post Office in Newark at 302-368-4541, to confirm that it accepts applications and whether you need an appointment. Bring proof of citizenship, a photo ID and a completed application. The State Department fee and the facility's execution fee are paid separately. The State Department processes the passport, not the post office.

You complete a USPS PO Box application and show two forms of identification, one of which must be a photo ID. Box sizes and prices depend on the size and location of the office, so a box in Wilmington may cost differently from one in Ellendale or Bethel. Availability can also vary, especially at beach-area offices during summer. Call the office first to ask about open box sizes, current fees and whether you can start the application online before you visit.

First contact the post office that serves your address, for example the Bear Post Office at 302-838-5006 or the Georgetown Post Office at 302-856-3647, and ask the postmaster to look into it. If you suspect theft or fraud, report it to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455. You can also file a report with your local police department, especially if checks, cards or identity documents were taken. Keep tracking numbers, envelopes and dates, because they help investigators trace what happened.

Generally yes. Offices serving resort communities, such as the Bethany Beach Post Office at 14 North Pennsylvania Avenue (302-539-9874) and the Nassau Post Office at 5 Point Drive in Lewes (302-645-2565), see more visitors and seasonal residents from late spring through early September. Weekend afternoons are usually the hardest times. Weekday mornings tend to be calmer. If you own a second home, you can ask for mail to be held or forwarded, and a short call to the office will confirm what it needs from you.