4652 East North Street

(Yes, really: East North Street. Just a couple of blocks east of this spot, south of Grant, are North Farwest Drive, North West Drive, North Midwest Drive, North Mideast Drive, North East Drive, and East South Drive. C’mon, Tucson street namers, this is almost as bad as addresses in Utah like 400 East 400 South. Say what?? :)

Anyway, this little one-block stub of North East Street — just west of Swan — has one of the most fun mailboxes I've seen so far. It's painted white with red lines, to look like a barn. The black post is covered by bright red suspension springs. On top is a piece of steel with the owners’ names cut out by what I'd guess is a welding torch...

Just across the street is one of my favorite hidden Tucson murals.

I ducked into North Street to check my map for a bicycle tour I'm planning to lead during the spring Artists’ Open Studios with Bike Fest 2015. I was there on March 21st.

3351 East 29th Street

The tiles around the top of the stuccoed post that surrounds the black mailbox match the tiles in the entry walk. Address tiles on the wall by the entrance make it a package.

I spotted this trio as I was driving near Reid Park on March 13th.

3109 East 28th Street

This white mailbox looks like it's been out in the sun for a while:

It had faded this much by February 27th.

33 East Adams Street

The black and red design shows the house number: 33. But it also looks heart-shaped to me, as does the scrollwork on the post underneath the box.

I found this unique mailbox on January 9th.

4450 East 28th Street

This black mailbox is mounted on an exhaust manifold with a yellow flag above.

Let's get a closer look:

I raced by on December 25th.

4631 East 24th Street

This candy-striped box stands in a candy-striped pot on the gravel yard.

Even the windowsills are candy-striped. (I took this fuzzy photo from the street. I don't go onto peoples' property.)

I was there on Christmas Day.

4519 East Juarez Street

Most of this plain metal mailbox is covered with multicolored mosaic tiles:

The photo is from Christmas Day.

4212 East Sylvane Drive

With all the scrollwork around this mailbox, can a letter carrier find where to put the mail?

I took the photo on Christmas Day.

4020 East 26th Street

This black car with flames coming out of the hood is headed uphill at an angle such that the letter carrier only has to open the grille and drop the mail in:

I roared by (on my bicycle :) Christmas Day.

4523 North Soldier Trail

Two views of a mailbox inside of a large gray stuccoed post painted with nature scenes:

I drove by on November 9th.

11745 East Summer Trail

This unique fish-shaped box with a rusty iron finish was made by custom metalworker Solaz:

Their website is solaz.biz, and the site shows more mailboxes. I took the photo on November 9th.

Update (April 16, 2015): The artist, Emily Mann, wrote (on another blog entry; I've moved it here): “Hi. Thanks for coming by during Open Studio Tours. I've just installed a new mailbox in Shadow hills with a Tree of Life theme, embellished rusted steel with brushed clean steel and decorative post. --it's welded on and concreted in quite securely! I've just added it to my webpage, solaz.biz and would invite you to go check it out for real.”

3130 North Soldier Trail

It's 2015 and I'm back on my bicycle hunting for mailboxes:

That rusted bike between the posts of a mailbox isn't actually mine, of course; it's missing the seat, handlebars and tires. I drove by (in a car) on November 9th, along the route of the 2014 fall Artists Open Studios tour in far northeast Tucson.

1431 South Palo Verde Avenue

Just in time for the new year, here's an old box on a fence, unused.


It sits behind a new bog-standard mailbox at the curb:

I took both photos almost a year ago: January 1, 2014.

1739 North Nancy Rose Boulevard

Just in time for Christmas, here's our 300th mailbox! It's in a rusty brown color, surrounded by a butterfly and a flower — a calla lily, I'd guess.

I fluttered by on November 16, 2013.

2901 East 26th Street

Here's a pair of black mailboxes with saguaro posts:

I usually don't show saguaro posts, but these two were too fun to miss.

I took their portrait on July 28, 2013.

3274 East 24th Street

This white mailbox is embedded in its custom-made post, with a nook below it and tiles that match the ones on the home's front porch:

It's the last of four boxes along this block of 24th Street. I was there on August 6, 2013.

3265 East 24th Street

Here's a dark blue mailbox with a country scene in reds and browns: a little road winds past trees, one with a swing, and a building (maybe a school?):

The other side of the box is black with the house number.

I rolled by on August 6th, 2013.

3226 East 24th Street

Now for the second of four boxes along 24th near Reid Park. It's dark blue with grass, flowers, butterflies and clouds:

The photos are from August 6, 2013.

3202 East 24th Street

This handpainted mailbox shows some kind of vehicle, but I'm not sure which:

Across the top are parts of three leather straps, two with buckles. And the flag is a U.S. flag.

If you've got a guess what this is, please leave a comment below. Thanks.

I found it on August 6, 2013.

Update (July 30, 2024): Now there's something completely different here. You can see the giant (U of) A in today's post.

3133 East Silverlake Road

Just in time for autumn — in Tucson seasons, anyway — a black mailbox topped with a floppy doll on a cloth saying “Happy Fall”:

I spotted it a year ago: November 14, 2013.

150 East 19th Street

The sun is setting (or rising?) over black hills on this mailbox with fun ironwork between its posts. I snapped the photo on July 28, 2013.

4326 East Flower Street

Here's a mailbox with a shooting star and a critter-shaped flag. I found it on July 4th, 2013.

Like last week's box, there's a flowery post behind.

4318 East Flower Street

Appropriately enough for Flower Street, this box is covered with handpainted blue flowers.

I passed by on July 4, 2013.

2650 North Orchard Avenue

This black mailbox is on a pint-sized post.

I (almost) overlooked it on July 4, 2013.

Albuquerque balloons

It's balloon fiesta week in Albuquerque. Though this is the Tucson Mailbox Art blog, let's jump to New Mexico for a gray mailbox with hot-air balloons:

I took the photo October 29, 2013.

2731 North Orchard Avenue

I found this (mostly) green mailbox on a (partly) red fire hydrant July 4, 2013.

2033 East 9th Street

Offline, out of town, off my bicycle… I haven't posted any mailboxes for (exactly) four months now. I'll aim to put at least one online each week for the rest of the year, and more in the new year. Let's get back to the boxes!

Though this terracotta mailbox isn't special by itself, it fits with the artistic front of its home. The owner told me that he wanted the back of the box to protrude from the other side of the wall so he wouldn't need to open the gate to get the mail. But the builder built the wall first.

I was there on June 30, 2013.

324 North Norris Avenue

I rolled by a simple entrance and white wooden mailbox at 324 N. Norris on June 30, 2013.

121 North Norris Avenue

This artistic fence and "post" mailbox (on a post made from a tree branch) were spotted at 121 N. Norris on June 30, 2013.

1347 North Plumer Avenue

This rust-finished mailbox with turquoise accents is at 1347 N. Plumer. Click there for a Google map.

I found it on June 27, 2013.

2320 East Adams Street

From June 27, 2013: a simple design with a turquoise maildrop:

For some reason, the address, 2320 E Adams, wouldn't appear in the Location box. Click there for a Google map.

3342 East Seneca Street

The owner left this black mailbox hanging out… on a unique right-angle post with numbers welded to the post:

I took the photo on June 25, 2013.

2618 East Seneca Street

This black mailbox has a painted sculpture of a waving man chained to its post.

I rode by on June 25, 2013.

1914 North Tucker Drive

There was no water in sight to grow a rust-finished mailbox with cattails around its post, as well as a cattail flag.

I found it on June 25th.

2726 East Waverly Street

This black mailbox has a bird on an angled post with the house number.

I snapped the photo on June 25th.

4307 East Bellevue Street

I wondered if the owner ever put flowers in the flowerpot shards embedded around the black mailbox in this stucco and brick post.

I pondered that back on June 13, 2013.

2801 East Helen Street

The theme here is sunflowers. There's also a sunflower sign by the front door (the photo is fuzzy because I set the camera to zoom in while I was standing on the street):

I snapped the photos on June 12th.

2802 East Drachman Street

Here's the scene: a white mailbox surrounded by flowers and cactus:

The box has handpainted flowers:

The west side is faded, probably by strong sun:

I stopped by on June 12th.

2926 East Glenn Street

This home, which I spotted on June 12th, has a fun entrance with something you don't see much of in Tucson anymore: a mailbox by the door (rather than at the curb).