UNITED STATES POST OFFICE AND COURTHOUSE (TEXARKANA)

The United States Post Office and Courthouse, also known as Texarkana U.S. Post Office and Federal Building and as Texarkana U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, is located on State Line Avenue in Texarkana, straddling the border between Arkansas and Texas. It is the courthouse of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The United States Post Office and Courthouse is the only federal office building in the United States to straddle a state line.

U.S. POST OFFICE AND COURTHOUSE - TEXARKANA

ALMA, CO. V. LEADVILLE, CO. V. WINTER PARK, CO.

There are 3 municipalities that vie for the highest city in the United States. All 3 are in Colorado. Alma is a statutory town located in Park County, Colorado. The population was estimated to be 312 in 2018. According to Wikipedia, Alma, at an elevation of 10,578 feet, is the highest incorporated municipality in the United States with permanent residents. Alma, has a contiguous residential area (on Mountain View Drive) extending to 11,680 feet above sea level. Leadville is a statutory city located in Lake County, Colorado. The population was estimated to be 2,762 in 2018. At an elevation of 10,152 feet, Leadville is the highest incorporated city in North America. Winter Park is a home rule municipality in Grand County, Colorado. The permanent population was estimated to be 1,051 in 2018. Its motto is: “Colorado’s Highest”. Although the town center is at about 9,000 feet above sea level, Winter Park, using administrative boundaries as a measure, became the highest incorporated town in the U.S. after the July 2006 annexation of 5,214 acres of Winter Park Resort to allow new on-mountain improvements. Winter Park’s claim as the highest incorporated town is disputed since Winter Park has no residences above 9,550 feet, while contiguous residential neighborhoods in Leadville extend to 10,360 feet and in Alma to 11,680 feet. Also, Alma’s town center is at 10,361 feet. Alma is also the location of the highest post office in the United States. The Alma Post Office (80420) sits at an elevation of 10,578 feet above sea level.

Alma, Colorado Post Office

HINSDALE, NEW HAMPSHIRE POST OFFICE 03451

Hinsdale is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire. The population in 2017 was estimated to be 3,878. The Hinsdale post office was established in 1816, and is the oldest continually-operating post office in the United States.

Hinsdale, NH Post Office - Established 1816

FARTHEST USPS LOCATIONS FROM THE CONTINENTAL U.S.

The farthest United States post office from the mainland U.S.* is located in the Freely Associated State of Palau. The country contains approximately 340 islands, forming the western chain of the Carolina Islands in Micronesia. The most populous island is Koror. *as the crow flies from Los Angeles

FARTHEST USPS LOCATIONS FROM THE CONTINENTAL U.S.
Post Office Location	Miles*	Zip Code
Palau	11,090	96939
Guam	9,802	96910
Northern Mariana Islands	9,446	96951
Marshall Islands	7,804	96960
American Samoa	7,677	96799
Wake Island	7,484	96898

THE MOST REMOTE COMMUNITY IN THE CONTIGUOUS U.S.

Supai, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Coconino County, Arizona. It is situated within the Grand Canyon. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 208. Supai has been referred to as “the most remote community” in the contiguous United States by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is accessible only by helicopter, or foot or by mule. Supai is 8 miles from the nearest road and has no automobiles in the community. In Supai, the main means of communications and supply is via the U.S. Postal Service, with incoming and outgoing mail transported by mule train. Mail is picked up at the Peach Springs, AZ Post Office, and trucked 60 miles along a desolate road maintained by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. The road ends at Hualapai Hilltop where a string of mules accompanied by a wrangler on horseback makes the 16-mile round trip into the Grand Canyon six days a week. Supai is the only place in the United States where mail is still carried by mules. The Peach Springs Post Office building is the only USPS location that includes walk-in freezers for food delivery.

ONLY TOWN IN U.S. TO HAVE A YEAR-ROUND USPS WATER DELIVERY SERVICE

Magnolia Springs, Alabama is the only town in the United States to have a year-round U.S. Postal Service water delivery route. The 31-mile route started in 1915 and now services about 180 homes. Mailboxes are located on the docks, and the delivery person drives a 15-foot Alumacraft boat that rarely comes to a complete stop.

U.S. Postal Service carrier Mark Lipscomb places letters in a mailbox along the Magnolia River in Alabama

POSTAL DELIVERY ZONES

During World War II, thousands of experienced postal employees left to serve with the military. In 1943, the Post Office Department began using zone codes in 124 large cities, so that mail could be sorted by employees who did not have detailed scheme knowledge. Under this system, delivery zones were identified by one or two numbers between the city and state — for example, Birmingham 7, Alabama. Zone codes were used in 131 cities in total; most continued to use zone codes until ZIP Codes came along in 1963

WHAT DO SMOKEY BEAR AND POTUS HAVE IN COMMON?

The only 2 individuals to have their own zip code are Smokey Bear (aka Smokey the Bear) and the President of the United States.

Smokey Bear is an American advertising icon created by the U.S. Forest Service. In the longest-running public service advertising campaign in United States history, the Ad Council, the United States Forest Service (USFS), and the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) employ Smokey Bear to educate the public about the dangers of unplanned human-caused wildfires. The living symbol of Smokey Bear was a five-pound, three-month-old American black bear cub who was found in the spring of 1950 after the Capitan Gap fire, a wildfire that burned in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico. Smokey had climbed a tree to escape the blaze, but his paws and hind legs had been burned. Local crews who had come from New Mexico and Texas to fight the blaze removed the cub from the tree. Smokey Bear lived at the National Zoo for 26 years. During that time, he received millions of visitors as well as so many letters addressed to him (more than 13,000 a week) that in 1964 the United States Postal Service gave him his own ZIP code (20252). He developed a love for peanut butter sandwiches, in addition to his daily diet of bluefish and trout.

THE ONLY FLOATING ZIP CODE (48222) IN THE U.S.

The JW Westcott is a boat known for its delivery of mail to ships while they are underway. Any mail addressed to members of ships' crews on vessels transiting the Detroit River can be delivered to them via J. W. Westcott II by being addressed "Vessel Name, Marine Post Office, Detroit, Michigan, 48222." The US postal zip code 48222 is exclusive to the floating post office and its ship addressees.

USPS - PARCEL POST

One of the oddest parcel post packages ever sent was "mailed" from Grangeville to Lewiston, Idaho on February 19, 1914. The 48 1/2 pound package was just short of the 50 pound limit. The name of the package was May Pierstorff, three months short of six years old.

May's parents decided to send their daughter for a visit with her grandparents, but were reluctant to pay the train fare. Noticing that there were no provisions in the parcel post regulations specifically concerning sending a person through the mails, they decided to "mail" their daughter. The postage, 53-cents in parcel post stamps, was attached to May's coat. This little girl traveled the entire distance to Lewiston in the train's mail compartment and was delivered to her grandmother's home by the mail clerk on duty, Leonard Mochel.

MAY PIERSTORFF

USPS - RATES FOR DOMESTIC LETTERS SINCE 1863

Effective Date	Postage in cents per ½ ounce
July 1, 1863	3
October 1, 1883	2
	Postage in cents  per ounce*
July 1, 1885	2
November 2, 1917	3
July 1, 1919	2
July 6, 1932	3
August 1, 1958	4
January 7, 1963	5
January 7, 1968	6
May 16, 1971	8
March 2, 1974	10
December 31, 1975	13
May 29, 1978	15
March 22, 1981	18
November 1, 1981	20
February 17, 1985	22
April 3, 1988	25
February 3, 1991	29
January 1, 1995	32
January 10, 1999	33
January 7, 2001	34
June 30, 2002	37
January 8, 2006	39
May 14, 2007	41
May 12, 2008	42
May 11, 2009	44
January 22, 2012	45
January 27, 2013	46
January 26, 2014	49
April 10, 2016	47
January 22, 2017	49
January 21, 2018	50

*Beginning September 14, 1975, additional ounces were charged at a lower rate; the prices listed in this table are for the first ounce. Since July 15, 1979 a surcharge has been added for non-standard envelope sizes.

USPS - POSTAL FACTS - ZIP CODES

Zip Codes are placed AFTER the City, State and NOT BELOW them

Until 1963 the Post Office Department preferred that state and territorial names be written out in full to avoid confusion, but accepted the popular public practice of abbreviation. 

The Department published a list of preferred abbreviations in the 1831 Table of Post Offices in the United States. The United States Official Postal Guide first published in 1874, also provided lists of preferred spellings. Most of the abbreviations in use in 1874 were still in use in 1943, although new states and territories had been added, and the abbreviation for California had been lengthened, from "Cal." to "Calif." 

On July 1, 1963, the Post Office Department implemented the five-digit ZIP Code, which was placed after the state name in the last line of an address. To provide room for the ZIP Code, the Department issued two-letter abbreviations for all states and territories. 

To date, only one change has been made to the abbreviations issued in 1963. In November 1969, at the request of the Canadian postal administration, the two-letter abbreviation for Nebraska, originally NB, was changed to NE, to avoid confusion with New Brunswick in Canada.

USPS FACTS - UNIQUE ZIP CODES

The lowest numerical zip code is 00501. It is a unique zip code for the Internal Revenue Service in Holtsville, NY.  Fisher’s Island, New York bears zip code 06390, and is the only zip code in New York, other than 00501, that does not begin with a 1. Fisher’s Island has a Connecticut zip code because the island is only accessible by ferry from Connecticut.

USPS POSTAL FACTS

The northernmost Post Office location within the contiguous states is in Angle Inlet, MN

For additional information about Angle Inlet, MN, please see my November 12, 2018 post The Northwest Angle