An article published yesterday in The New York Times is bringing more attention to the troubles surrounding the U.S. Postal Service. A beloved Art Deco post office in Santa Monica, California, which dates back to 1938, is one of hundreds of locations that USPS may sell to help its financial outlook, but the thought has inspired outrage from area residents. One major issue is that these small, unprofitable post offices are more than just places to buy stamps or ship packages—they’re community hubs.

Last summer, we profiled The LeNoir Store in Horatio, South Carolina (photo above), a 200-year-old institution that seems more like a town hall than a shipping outlet. The LeNoir Store was facing a similar outcome, but for now seems to have been spared. With luck, cost-saving measures like the end of Saturday mail deliveries will spare more of these small-town hubs.