CAREYWOOD, Idaho - The United States Postal Service closed operations at a post office in the small town of Careywood.
Around 140 mailboxes there are moving about ten miles south to Athol.
The result means that residents like Allen Banks will now have to travel much further to get their mail.
"It's sad," Banks said, "it's very sad."
Tuesday was the final day for the post office in the small community of 500 off of Highway 95.
In February the USPS announced that it was closing the location due to future plans to widen Highway 95 and an inability to reach a new contract with the post master.
Mailboxes would be moved to Athol, something that angered dozens of people here.
The Postal Regulatory Commission, a federal agency that oversees the Postal Service, has since agreed to hear an appeal on the closing.
The USPS however, has asked that the appeal be dismissed, arguing that it is out of the commission's jurisdiction.
The USPS said the Careywood location is not a traditional post office and is instead a "contract postal unit" making it exempt from some of the rules that govern the closing of a post office.
People in Careywood have argued that the post office not only acts as a community center, but that traveling to Athol to get their mail would be an extra burden.
KREM 2 News followed Allen and Marrion Banks from the Careywood post office to the one in Athol. In all the trip took just under ten minutes.
The Banks argue that would add up over time.
"You're seeing it under the best, most ideal conditions," Allen Banks said. "You're seeing it with a dry road."
For now, Athol is where the people of Careywood will be getting their mail. They are holding out hope though, praying that their appeal might change things back to the way they were.
"Not every fight can be won," Marrion Banks said, "but every fight should be fought. And we haven't quit yet."
Residents in Careywood are expecting a decision on the Postal Service's motion to dismiss the appeal by the end of the week.
As for the general appeal of the Careywood Post Office itself, the PRC has until the end of June to make a decision on that.
