How cool would this have been? A small post office in Tieton, Washington was supposed to get a new facade consisting of 41,500 stamp-size glass mosaic tiles, commemorating the look of vintage postage stamps from the early 20th century.

Image via Kickstarter | Tieton Stamp Mosaic: A Monument to Small-Town Post Offices

The Kickstarter campaign had initially raised enough money, but the USPS declined the offer, with Ernie Swanson, U.S.P.S. communications field contact, stating “It’s just inappropriate, basically, for us to do that, to accept such gifts; we operate and maintain our own facilities.”

Luckily the town will still produce six typographic mosaics that will be installed around Tieton landmarks, as part of the Tieton Mosaic Project, which was funded in part by the National Endowment of the Arts. Ed Marquand, co-founder of Mighty Tieton (an incubator for artisan and design-related light manufacturing businesses), is behind the Tieton Mosaic Project and helming the revitalization effort of the small, agricultural community in central Washington.