Last updated on November 17th, 2022 at 11:49 pm

For the past few years since I moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, unique mailboxes have caught my eye. Every time I see one, I take a photo. It’s about time to show you some of the attractive and unique mailboxes that I have seen along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Most of the mailboxes that I have seen were in Ocean Springs, a small town where my wife and I love to walk around. The neighborhoods are interesting. Unlike the suburban developments that many of us live in, the homes in Ocean Springs are all custom homes built over the past 150 years. Many people have unique mailboxes that make their homes stand out.

People in Ocean Springs (and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast) seem to have a thing for a unique mailbox. If you think about it, you see the mailbox before you see the house. You would think it’s something like keeping up with the Joneses but it’s not. Not every home has a unique mailbox. Most were purchased from a hardware store.

Mailboxes as art

Mailboxes are a form of art. I know one person who owns a couple of houses down the street from the property that I own. He created his mailboxes. Not just for his property but for several of his neighbors as well. They are all different and you can tell they are hand made not imported from somewhere else.

One of the more common types of custom mailboxes is a pedestal made of brick with a box embedded inside. Some have a planter on one side or another. You will see these in newer developments where homes were built with brick. The excess brick is used to build these mailboxes. They are nice and attractive but my personal favorite is the ones where someone crafted something with metal, wood, etc. The video above shows you what I mean.

Perhaps we are all overlooking a chance to start a new fad. Oh no, that’s not going to fly. Many of you (not me) have to obtain your mail in a unit of boxes where 20 or more individual boxes are included in a big steel box. That’s the new thing with the U.S. P.S. Fortunately, I live in a new neighborhood where our mail is delivered to our mailbox on the street in front of my home.

Most of the Ocean Springs residents have their mail delivered to the street and some at the door. This service is common throughout the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

In the good old days, delivery direct to your house

For those of you reading this who live in an area with a big central mailbox, you don’t know what you are missing by having an attractive mailbox at your house. I have lived in several developments where they had central mailboxes. When the item was too big, they put a slip in the box and told me to drop by the post office to collect it. That’s not very convenient.

Much of the mail along the Mississippi Gulf Coast is delivered directly to houses. When my mailbox is too small for a package, the carrier places it on my porch. What a great touch, this service is not available to much of metro America any longer. I must admit that a few, very few, new developments along the Mississippi Gulf Coast have mail delivered to the big multi-box.

Where do you find a unique mailbox?

Starting with how creative you are, make one on your own. Get some ideas from driving around. Many of the mailboxes that I have seen have a nautical theme because we are on the Gulf Coast. Depending upon where you live, desert, river, ranch, etc, you can create something that reflects the area your home is in.

Creating a mailbox based on the area seems to be the most common theme but there are other styles of mailboxes as well. If you live in a low-crime area, you can make a part of the mailbox for the package delivery people to use. In the good old days of newspapers, some of the boxes had a newspaper hole.

Consider making your mailbox. There are lots of unique posts you can buy to mount your creation on or as you can see below, one artistic homeowner made his home on what looks to be an oil rig. I will be adding more photos of mailboxes as I encounter them. Feel free to send any photos of unique mailboxes you have and I will add them to this post.

Mailboxes add a personal touch

I found a website with some good suggestions for mailboxes. The Spruce.com. You can start by buying a standard steel mailbox at your local hardware store and then decorating it. Go to one of many stores where you can buy art supplies and then browse the internet for ideas. Your personal touch will be on full display for all to see when you are complete.

Some people decorate their mailboxes for the season such as Halloween or along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, mardi gras season. People put beads on their mailboxes during mardi gras (these are thrown out at parades). If you live in a development with a large master box for the entire neighborhood, perhaps it’s time to consider relocating.

I think there is a connection between the type of mailbox and where you live. The Mississippi Gulf Coast is a more laid-back beach environment where mailboxes at each home are expected. You can drive very slowly and even stop and admire a mailbox without traffic behind you. I will have to give some more thought to this idea of a better quality of life tied to an area with individual mailboxes.

Read this article about why I decided to retire in Ocean Springs Mississippi. One of many articles about retirement, personal finance, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast which my wife and I decided to relocate. Please sign up to receive notice of our new blog articles.

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