4000 West Gates Pass Road

Driving toward Gates Pass on August 8th, I rolled past a mailbox that looked custom-built. I found a parking place and walked downhill to have a closer look. It's partly a rust-like color (same as the rusted finish that's popular on metal these days) but with some yellow splotches or flakes. It has a critter flag and a base that looks a little bit like a fire hydrant.

I didn't see any street number on a sign, in little plates stuck to the box, etc. There weren't many homes in the area, but I spotted one up the road with a number around 4100. Then I came back to give this box a closer look.

Aha. Along the post are four numbers made from steel rods. They're backward in the second shot above, but you can see that they say 4000. Clever.

2145 East Glenn Street

As I've written recently, Glenn Street seems to have more than its share of creative mailboxes. Now that I'm (finally!) getting out on my bicycle again, I think a ride along Glenn will get you some photos to enjoy. (While I was out of the picture — so to speak — David Aber has been filling in the gaps. There'll be more of his finds in the future, too.)

Speaking of David, I think he'd call this “Dragon Box” for the sculpture “post” under the plain vanilla mailbox. Or is that a dragon?? If you have another suggestion, please leave a comment below.

I snapped this photo on July 4th.

1231 East Edison Street

This faded white mailbox with desert scenes is in front of the Tucson Community Meditation Center:

I drove mindfully by it on June 25th.

7042 East Calle Neptuno

This plain black box sits in a rusted frame made of mesh, perched on a square post and a saguaro, with javelina above and below. It's in the part of town with streets named in Spanish for planets (Neptuno), stars and galaxies.

David Aber flew by (I'm not sure if he did any orbits while taking this photo) on May 19th.

2062 South Avenida Ursa

Here's another mailbox that David Aber found in the corner of Tucson with streets named for stars and planets — and using calle and avenida instead of street and avenue.

You can tell why David called it “Driftwood Box.” He floated by (than emailed it, thanks) on May 19th.

6433 East Calle Dened

Like the previous mailbox, this one is in the part of Tucson, southeast of 22nd & Wilmot, with semicircular streets named for stars and constellations. The clever “post” is made of the front fork and handlebars of a motorcycle (if you know which one, please leave a comment below!) and the box itself has a headlight mounted on front:

David Aber hit the brakes when he saw this on May 19th.

As usual, I can't thank you enough for your contributions to this blog, Dave.

6902 East Calle Neptuno

David Aber sent this photo May 19th. He calls it (for obvious reasons) the Choo Choo Box:

I'm not sure if the homeowners made this clever locomotive-engine-shaped mailbox. But, whoever made it, the creativity of artists continues to amaze me. (They even attached a “smokestack” to the top of the mailbox itself!)