U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, has asked U.S. Postmaster General David Steiner for more information about the recent closure of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) branch in Ethel, according to a July 7 letter forwarded to The Chronicle.
“On May 22, 2026, my office received notification from constituents in Ethel about an alert from USPS that their post office located at 1421 U.S. Highway 12, Ethel, WA 98542 would be suspending its service due to lease expiration,” Gluesenkamp Perez wrote in the letter to Steiner. “As a result, customers had to forward their address and transition all services to the Onalaska Post Office. Residents were given a one-week notice of the closure with little communication about why the decision was made. The Ethel Post Office is a cornerstone of the community for the 625 residents of Ethel, WA, and has been since its establishment in 1886. Given the disruption this closure will have on the community, I request a written response detailing the reasons for its closure, including any operational, staffing, facility or financial factors; what alternatives were considered; how customer notification and outreach was handled; and the USPS’s plans and timeline for restoring service or establishing a permanent replacement.”
Janella Biggs, USPS public information officer for the state of Washington, said “The USPS is unable to discuss confidential lease negotiations or business terms.” Biggs added that residents are still getting mail delivered from Onalaska, and the USPS has extended mail delivery service for residents between Ethel and Onlaska on Leonard road.
The former Ethel Post Office was located in the former Ethel Market, which came under new ownership in 2025 and is now known as the D9 Country Market.
D9 Country Market owner Kyle Deskins told The Chronicle he never wanted the Post Office to leave in the first place. Already having established D9 Farms Hay & Grain just down the road from the market, Deskins purchased the market to help revitalize both the market itself and the surrounding community.
Those revitalization efforts included upgrading the Post Office’s existing space inside D9 Country Market, an idea the Onalaska Post Office’s postmaster was on board with, Deskins said. With the improvements, Deskins also proposed negotiating a new lease with the old one about to expire, as that lease for the space inside the market had rent at only $200 a month.
However, when those higher up in the USPS’ chain of command got wind of the proposal, they interjected.
“They did not want to negotiate a new contract … They basically said, ‘If they want a penny more, we’re just going to move it (the Post Office),’” Deskins said.
The closure means Ethel residents must now drive about 4 and a half miles north to the Onalaska Post Office, located along state Route 508 between Brenda’s Country Market and the Touched By One, Touched By All Community Center.
Aside from Onalaska, the other nearby Post Office locations in rural Lewis County are in Salkum, about 6 miles away, Toledo, about 10 miles away, and Winlock, about 14 miles away.
