What two zip codes that border each other have the largest difference in number? This shouldn't be too hard to figure out.
At first glance it has to be somewhere along the Mississippi/Louisiana border, as those have the greatest difference between their ranges.
Of course, the thread title already implies it's the USA, due to the unique name they give to postcodes. Otherwise I would have come up with 04110 and 84750 in France :sombrero:.
^^^^^
Remember the US government loves its acronyms. "ZIP" in "ZIP Code" is an acronym that stands for "Zone Improvement Program." That name had the happy coincidence of shortening to a word that connotes speed, as in faster mail delivery, so the term stuck.
I've sometimes wondered whether addressing something the old way (e.g., "Brooklyn 9, NY" instead of 11209) would work, but I've never bothered to try it to find out.
For West Virginia, the winner is Henderson (25106), which is across the river from the huge Gallipolis zip code zone (45631) giving a difference of 20,525. If you look at the map, it doesn't look like the Henderson zip code actually touches the Ohio River (but we all know that the town of Henderson is located at the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio rivers). All of the town proper is in the 25106 zip code, plus there's a tiny sliver of land along the Kanawha with a few houses that connect to main zip code area just west of the town of Southside. Otherwise, the rest of that area has a 25515 zip code (Gallipolis Ferry).
How about a double whammy: Chester (26034) is adjacent to East Liverpool, Ohio (43920) and Georgetown, Pennsylvania (15043). The differences are 17,886 and 10,991.
Largest I can find in Indiana is Mount Vernon's 47620 touching the 62984 of Shawneetown, IL, at the mouth of the Wabash River.
without really searching this out, i would say somewhere along the montana/wyoming border
montana is all 59xxx, and wyoming is (i think) 82xxx
Looking at a Zip codes map, there's three places where crossing state lines would have a difference of at least 20001
- Ohio (4) and Pennsylvania (1)
- Montana (5) and Wyoming/Idaho (8)
- Arkansas/Louisiana (7) and Tennessee/Mississippi (3)
Quote from: Dirt Roads on December 23, 2021, 08:48:04 AM
For West Virginia, the winner is Henderson (25106), which is across the river from the huge Gallipolis zip code zone (45631) giving a difference of 20,525. If you look at the map, it doesn't look like the Henderson zip code actually touches the Ohio River (but we all know that the town of Henderson is located at the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio rivers). All of the town proper is in the 25106 zip code, plus there's a tiny sliver of land along the Kanawha with a few houses that connect to main zip code area just west of the town of Southside. Otherwise, the rest of that area has a 25515 zip code (Gallipolis Ferry).
How about a double whammy: Chester (26034) is adjacent to East Liverpool, Ohio (43920) and Georgetown, Pennsylvania (15043). The differences are 17,886 and 10,991.
Quote from: SkyPesos on December 23, 2021, 11:32:21 AM
- Ohio (4) and Pennsylvania (1)
Wow! I didn't pay any attention but the two I've mentioned also touch each other: East Liverpool, Ohio (43920) and Georgetown, Pennsylvania (15043) have a difference of 28,877. Just north of there the numbers flip to 16XXX versus 44XXX, so Bessemer, Pennsylvania (16112) and Petersburg, Ohio (44454) have a difference of 28,342. Fun fact: Petersburg also touches the tiny ethnic borough of S.N.J.P., Pennsylvania (part of zip code 16120). That abbreviation stands for Slovenska Narodna Podporna Jednota, the fraternal society whose members make up the population.
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 07:39:08 AM
^^^^^
"ZIP" in "ZIP Code" is an acronym that stands for "Zone Improvement Program." That name had the happy coincidence of shortening to a word that connotes speed, as in faster mail delivery, so the term stuck.
I don't think it was a coincidence at all, if for no other reason that the expression "zone improvement plan" doesn't really make sense. I mean, you don't really improve a zone by giving it a number.
I now believe the highest differences may be along the Mississippi/Arkansas border. Crossing the Mississippi river on US 49 means a jump of 33,716 between Dundee, MS's 38626 and Helena (part of Helena West Helena), AR's 72342. Of course, that using only postcodes that get called "ZIP codes", the French example I posted above is over 80,000; courtesy of France numbering their departments by alphabetical order and no. 04 (Alpes de Haute Provence) bordering no. 84 (Vaucluse).
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on December 23, 2021, 01:20:57 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 07:39:08 AM
^^^^^
"ZIP" in "ZIP Code" is an acronym that stands for "Zone Improvement Program." That name had the happy coincidence of shortening to a word that connotes speed, as in faster mail delivery, so the term stuck.
I don't think it was a coincidence at all, if for no other reason that the expression "zone improvement plan" doesn't really make sense. I mean, you don't really improve a zone by giving it a number.
Well, it certainly wasn't a "coincidence" that they chose a catchy name for marketing purposes in conveying it to the public. Insofar as the system "improved" on their ability to process mail quickly using the existing postal "zones," though, I suppose the name makes sense. As seen in the example in my prior post, some large cities were divided into "postal zones" to help with processing mail there by routing it to the appropriate post office within the larger area. The ZIP Code system expands that to the country as a whole. I've never bothered to find out what the additional four digits after the hyphen mean, though I know what the full ZIP+4 is for our house and my mom's house.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on December 23, 2021, 02:31:47 PM
I now believe the highest differences may be along the Mississippi/Arkansas border. Crossing the Mississippi river on US 49 means a jump of 33,716 between Dundee, MS's 38626 and Helena (part of Helena West Helena), AR's 72342. Of course, that using only postcodes that get called "ZIP codes", the French example I posted above is over 80,000; courtesy of France numbering their departments by alphabetical order and no. 04 (Alpes de Haute Provence) bordering no. 84 (Vaucluse).
That seems highly likely to be correct:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/ZIP_Code_zones.svg/400px-ZIP_Code_zones.svg.png)
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 02:36:59 PM
I've never bothered to find out what the additional four digits after the hyphen mean, though I know what the full ZIP+4 is for our house and my mom's house.
They are, as you might expect, more precise subdivisions of a zip code for sorting use. There's even an additional two digit "delivery point code" (DPC) that can be appended to the ZIP+4 (making 11 digits in total) that uniquely identifies a single mailbox. (You can sometimes find this code printed across the bottom of your mail at the time of postmarking, along with a barcode that does the actual heavy lifting when it comes to sorting.) This seems to imply that each ZIP+4 code can only contain 100 mailboxes, and thus each ZIP code can only contain 1,000,000 mailboxes.
In ZIP codes that are solely reserved for PO Box use, ZIP+4 codes normally simply mirror the PO Box number. For example, my business address is P.O. Box 1428 in Norman 73070 (which only contains PO Boxes, no actual physical addresses), so my ZIP+4 there is 73070-1428. (I assume since the DPC is not needed in this case, it's always 00 or 01 or something like that. I'll have to keep an eye out and see if this code ever gets printed on my mail.)
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 23, 2021, 04:19:17 PM
In ZIP codes that are solely reserved for PO Box use, ZIP+4 codes normally simply mirror the PO Box number. For example, my business address is P.O. Box 1428 in Norman 73070 (which only contains PO Boxes, no actual physical addresses), so my ZIP+4 there is 73070-1428. (I assume since the DPC is not needed in this case, it's always 00 or 01 or something like that. I'll have to keep an eye out and see if this code ever gets printed on my mail.)
The delivery point code for the post office box in question is 28. You can find it with the Post Office's ZIP Code lookup form (https://tools.usps.com/zip-code-lookup.htm?byaddress).
Interesting. I knew about that tool but never noticed the drop-down that displays the DPC. It would seem like the DPC is directly derived from the building number in most cases (P.O. Box 1428 = DPC 28, my house has street address xx29 and the DPC is 29, my parents' house has street address xx06 and the DPC is 06). I wonder if that varies in cases where there are two nearby parallel streets that have the same house numbers, or if the ZIP+4 boundaries are drawn in such a way that this is impossible.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 23, 2021, 04:33:46 PM
Interesting. I knew about that tool but never noticed the drop-down that displays the DPC. It would seem like the DPC is directly derived from the building number in most cases (P.O. Box 1428 = DPC 28, my house has street address xx29 and the DPC is 29, my parents' house has street address xx06 and the DPC is 06). I wonder if that varies in cases where there are two nearby parallel streets that have the same house numbers, or if the ZIP+4 boundaries are drawn in such a way that this is impossible.
In most areas with single-family residences, the +4 code refers to one side of a street one block long. So the even number side of the 500 block will have have one +4 code, and the odd side will have another (most often varying by 1), and then the 600 block will have two more +4 codes, and so on. In other areas, the +4 codes can refer to smaller areas, sometimes a single building.
So, with the +4 code and the last two digits of the address, you pretty much get a single house. An apartment building will often have its own +4 code with the apartment number being the the delivery point. There's also a system if the apartments are lettered instead of numbered. Post office boxes have another system, based on the box number, as you've seen.
Very cool, thanks for the information.
I got curious how non-integer addresses are handled, so I popped in this pair (https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2245135,-97.4236008,3a,15y,51.44h,86.09t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sp65E14t1xvbQ3f9MwPmpvQ!2e0!5s20210201T000000!7i16384!8i8192) of mailboxes. The lookup tool accepts both 511 and 511 1/2 as valid, but returns both of them as 73071-5243 11. I was expecting 511½ to get some arbitrary code, such as perhaps 99, as building numbers in Norman very rarely have high numbers in the tens place, but it would appear that's not the case. (GSV history does show the installation of the 511½ box as occurring sometime in either 2018 or 2019, though, so it's possible that whatever database the lookup tool runs on simply doesn't include it.)
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 23, 2021, 05:08:59 PM
Very cool, thanks for the information.
I got curious how non-integer addresses are handled, so I popped in this pair (https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2245135,-97.4236008,3a,15y,51.44h,86.09t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sp65E14t1xvbQ3f9MwPmpvQ!2e0!5s20210201T000000!7i16384!8i8192) of mailboxes. The lookup tool accepts both 511 and 511 1/2 as valid, but returns both of them as 73071-5243 11. I was expecting 511½ to get some arbitrary code, such as perhaps 99, as building numbers in Norman very rarely have high numbers in the tens place, but it would appear that's not the case. (GSV history does show the installation of the 511½ box as occurring sometime in either 2018 or 2019, though, so it's possible that whatever database the lookup tool runs on simply doesn't include it.)
That annoys me, too, but I think the idea is to keep things in numerical order.
For everything you want to know, look up 2458_CASLTR97.PDF on Google.
↑ Neat find. Guessing you must have reason to deal with DPCs fairly often if you just know that PDF exists offhand. :D
Looks like the official policy is to just ignore any fraction in computing the DPC, so 511 and 511½ both having a code of 11 is correct. I suppose the mail for both boxes is sorted together and the mail carrier is responsible for sorting individual mailpieces and putting them in the correct box at delivery time. I hope the boxes are owned by either the same person, or people who get along well, because I would imagine mix-ups happen pretty frequently (the mail carriers in this part of Norman take an...avant-garde approach to deciding which mail goes in which box sometimes, especially under the current postmaster general).
I suppose the real question is why that box was assigned 511½ in the first place. The propane business next door is 523, so it shouldn't have been a problem for the 511½ box to be assigned the number 513 (and thus a DPC of 13).
My Plus 4 is 4223, DPC 04, which matches the last 2 digits of my address.
The house across the street has Plus 4 of 4222, DPC 05.
The address that is 100 greater than mine, but still on the same block, has a different Plus 4 of 4270, but again the DPC 04 matches the last 2 digits of the address.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 23, 2021, 06:48:03 PM
↑ Neat find. Guessing you must have reason to deal with DPCs fairly often if you just know that PDF exists offhand. :D
Looks like the official policy is to just ignore any fraction in computing the DPC, so 511 and 511½ both having a code of 11 is correct. I suppose the mail for both boxes is sorted together and the mail carrier is responsible for sorting individual mailpieces and putting them in the correct box at delivery time. I hope the boxes are owned by either the same person, or people who get along well, because I would imagine mix-ups happen pretty frequently (the mail carriers in this part of Norman take an...avant-garde approach to deciding which mail goes in which box sometimes, especially under the current postmaster general).
I suppose the real question is why that box was assigned 511½ in the first place. The propane business next door is 523, so it shouldn't have been a problem for the 511½ box to be assigned the number 513 (and thus a DPC of 13).
Addresses are assigned by cities/counties and not by the USPS, and they likely don't know or don't care that ½ in an address might cause issues.
I couldn't find any information for this online. To me, it seems odd that the majority of Georgia's ZIP codes start with 30 and 31, but there are some in the Albany area that start with 398.
Quote from: chrisdiaz on December 24, 2021, 03:24:57 PM
I couldn't find any information for this online. To me, it seems odd that the majority of Georgia's ZIP codes start with 30 and 31, but there are some in the Albany area that start with 398.
The first three digits of a ZIP code correspond to the sorting center that serves that ZIP code. Sorting centers 300-319 are all in Georgia, and then 320-349 are all Florida (except 340). My guess is that the Albany 398 sorting center was simply established after all of the other Georgia centers, so they had to skip to a higher number since 320 was already in use in Florida.
Wikipedia has a chart of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ZIP_Code_prefixes
Always thought it was weird how two or three towns in York County, Maine are 039XX while the other 98% or so of Maine is all 04XXX. I used to live in Wells (04090) and Old Orchard Beach (04064).
Mexico also has 5-digit postal codes, so maybe it could be somewhere along the border if you include those.
https://worldpostalcode.com/mexico/
Zip code 92283 borders postal code 21000 east of Mexicali.
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 07:39:08 AM
^^^^^
Remember the US government loves its acronyms. "ZIP" in "ZIP Code" is an acronym that stands for "Zone Improvement Program." That name had the happy coincidence of shortening to a word that connotes speed, as in faster mail delivery, so the term stuck.
I've sometimes wondered whether addressing something the old way (e.g., "Brooklyn 9, NY" instead of 11209) would work, but I've never bothered to try it to find out.
I'm pretty sure it would. Letters get there even if you omit the ZIP code entirely, something addressed with the zone code should be no problem.
Quote from: kkt on December 28, 2021, 10:18:29 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 07:39:08 AM
^^^^^
Remember the US government loves its acronyms. "ZIP" in "ZIP Code" is an acronym that stands for "Zone Improvement Program." That name had the happy coincidence of shortening to a word that connotes speed, as in faster mail delivery, so the term stuck.
I've sometimes wondered whether addressing something the old way (e.g., "Brooklyn 9, NY" instead of 11209) would work, but I've never bothered to try it to find out.
I'm pretty sure it would. Letters get there even if you omit the ZIP code entirely, something addressed with the zone code should be no problem.
I believe Canada has official surcharge for mail without postal code. Makes some sense...
Quote from: kkt on December 28, 2021, 10:18:29 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 07:39:08 AM
^^^^^
Remember the US government loves its acronyms. "ZIP" in "ZIP Code" is an acronym that stands for "Zone Improvement Program." That name had the happy coincidence of shortening to a word that connotes speed, as in faster mail delivery, so the term stuck.
I've sometimes wondered whether addressing something the old way (e.g., "Brooklyn 9, NY" instead of 11209) would work, but I've never bothered to try it to find out.
I'm pretty sure it would. Letters get there even if you omit the ZIP code entirely, something addressed with the zone code should be no problem.
Every year, 2 out-of-state friends address cards to us that have wrong street numbers or zip codes, yet every year we receive their cards, usually within 2 days of the postmark date. Whatever the USPS does to get it to the proper address actually works pretty well.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on December 28, 2021, 10:52:17 PM
Quote from: kkt on December 28, 2021, 10:18:29 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 07:39:08 AM
^^^^^
Remember the US government loves its acronyms. "ZIP" in "ZIP Code" is an acronym that stands for "Zone Improvement Program." That name had the happy coincidence of shortening to a word that connotes speed, as in faster mail delivery, so the term stuck.
I've sometimes wondered whether addressing something the old way (e.g., "Brooklyn 9, NY" instead of 11209) would work, but I've never bothered to try it to find out.
I'm pretty sure it would. Letters get there even if you omit the ZIP code entirely, something addressed with the zone code should be no problem.
Every year, 2 out-of-state friends address cards to us that have wrong street numbers or zip codes, yet every year we receive their cards, usually within 2 days of the postmark date. Whatever the USPS does to get it to the proper address actually works pretty well.
Every bit of mail is scanned and then OCRed to find the address, and then a bar code is printed on the envelope, unless it's already been done by the sender. If there's enough machine-readable information to uniquely determine the address, then the relevant bar code is printed automatically with no human intervention. If there isn't enough information or if the computer can't read it, then an image of the scan is sent to someone to read (who works in a central location), and if this person can determine the address, they type it into the computer, and the bar code is printed on the envelope. It's not always the full address that they need to indicate. Sometimes it's just the street number, sometimes just the zip code, etc. If it's unreadable, then the letter is returned to the sender.
Seeing the question about the pairs of neighboring zip codes with the largest numerical differences, here's a related question: what are some of the neighboring pairs of zip codes, across state lines, with the smallest differences between the two numbers? I'm guessing it's one of the 027 zip codes in southeast Massachusetts along the border with Rhode Island (whose zip codes begin with 028 and 029).
A friend used to play games with the addresses. Omit the zip code. Omit the zip code and the state. Omit everything BUT the 9-digit zip code (it worked - it was a PO box and the 9-digit zip code encorporated the box number).
For first class mail, there's no extra charge for omitting the zip code. But I believe to qualify for bulk mailing rates the zip code may be required.
Quote from: KCRoadFan on December 28, 2021, 11:12:53 PM
Seeing the question about the pairs of neighboring zip codes with the largest numerical differences, here's a related question: what are some of the neighboring pairs of zip codes, across state lines, with the smallest differences between the two numbers? I'm guessing it's one of the 027 zip codes in southeast Massachusetts along the border with Rhode Island (whose zip codes begin with 028 and 029).
The smallest I found in the situation you described would be 02790 and 02837, a difference of just 47. I'm going to continue looking in other states now :)
Quote from: chrisdiaz on December 29, 2021, 12:04:19 AM
Quote from: KCRoadFan on December 28, 2021, 11:12:53 PM
Seeing the question about the pairs of neighboring zip codes with the largest numerical differences, here's a related question: what are some of the neighboring pairs of zip codes, across state lines, with the smallest differences between the two numbers? I'm guessing it's one of the 027 zip codes in southeast Massachusetts along the border with Rhode Island (whose zip codes begin with 028 and 029).
The smallest I found in the situation you described would be 02790 and 02837, a difference of just 47. I'm going to continue looking in other states now :)
Already found one, 03878 and 03901, a difference of just 23.
One thing I've sometimes wondered: are there any areas in the country where the first three digits of the zip code happen to match the local area code? If not, where might the closest such pairs be found?
I know that the zip code range 618 (Champaign, IL) is located within area code 217, but it's not too far from area code 618, which covers the southern part of the state.
Is the zip code range 321 (Daytona Beach, FL) within the 321 area code, which is centered on the Space Coast area? I know it's close, anyway.
Any other examples?
Quote from: kkt on December 28, 2021, 11:48:36 PM
A friend used to play games with the addresses. Omit the zip code. Omit the zip code and the state. Omit everything BUT the 9-digit zip code (it worked - it was a PO box and the 9-digit zip code encorporated the box number).
For first class mail, there's no extra charge for omitting the zip code. But I believe to qualify for bulk mailing rates the zip code may be required.
I was always curious how viable it would be to substitute a numbered route designation for the street name in urban areas, but I've never had access to a box on a numbered route to test it.
kphoger once told a story (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=26000.msg2474832#msg2474832) where his mom successfully received a letter addressed only to "Nurse Sue, Atwood KS".
I remember reading about someone who only put the initials of the receiver, the initial of the address, and the postcode (which IIRC was somewhere in the Los Angeles area). The letter managed to arrive at destination.
Quote from: KCRoadFan on December 29, 2021, 12:35:02 AM
One thing I've sometimes wondered: are there any areas in the country where the first three digits of the zip code happen to match the local area code? If not, where might the closest such pairs be found?
I know that the zip code range 618 (Champaign, IL) is located within area code 217, but it's not too far from area code 618, which covers the southern part of the state.
Is the zip code range 321 (Daytona Beach, FL) within the 321 area code, which is centered on the Space Coast area? I know it's close, anyway.
Any other examples?
I've looked at this before. 202 in DC and 971 in Oregon.
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 02:36:59 PM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on December 23, 2021, 01:20:57 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 07:39:08 AM
^^^^^
"ZIP" in "ZIP Code" is an acronym that stands for "Zone Improvement Program." That name had the happy coincidence of shortening to a word that connotes speed, as in faster mail delivery, so the term stuck.
I don't think it was a coincidence at all, if for no other reason that the expression "zone improvement plan" doesn't really make sense. I mean, you don't really improve a zone by giving it a number.
Well, it certainly wasn't a "coincidence" that they chose a catchy name for marketing purposes in conveying it to the public. Insofar as the system "improved" on their ability to process mail quickly using the existing postal "zones," though, I suppose the name makes sense. As seen in the example in my prior post, some large cities were divided into "postal zones" to help with processing mail there by routing it to the appropriate post office within the larger area. The ZIP Code system expands that to the country as a whole. I've never bothered to find out what the additional four digits after the hyphen mean, though I know what the full ZIP+4 is for our house and my mom's house.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on December 23, 2021, 02:31:47 PM
I now believe the highest differences may be along the Mississippi/Arkansas border. Crossing the Mississippi river on US 49 means a jump of 33,716 between Dundee, MS's 38626 and Helena (part of Helena West Helena), AR's 72342. Of course, that using only postcodes that get called "ZIP codes", the French example I posted above is over 80,000; courtesy of France numbering their departments by alphabetical order and no. 04 (Alpes de Haute Provence) bordering no. 84 (Vaucluse).
That seems highly likely to be correct:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/ZIP_Code_zones.svg/400px-ZIP_Code_zones.svg.png)
Interestingly New Jersey has 00 Zip Codes and not 10 zip codes. It's interesting to see New Jersey get New England designated zip codes.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on December 29, 2021, 04:36:54 AM
I remember reading about someone who only put the initials of the receiver, the initial of the address, and the postcode (which IIRC was somewhere in the Los Angeles area). The letter managed to arrive at destination.
90xxx-91xxx zip codes those tend to be for Los Angeles county.
92xxx is for other counties in Southern California.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 29, 2021, 01:36:26 AM
Quote from: kkt on December 28, 2021, 11:48:36 PM
A friend used to play games with the addresses. Omit the zip code. Omit the zip code and the state. Omit everything BUT the 9-digit zip code (it worked - it was a PO box and the 9-digit zip code encorporated the box number).
For first class mail, there's no extra charge for omitting the zip code. But I believe to qualify for bulk mailing rates the zip code may be required.
I was always curious how viable it would be to substitute a numbered route designation for the street name in urban areas, but I've never had access to a box on a numbered route to test it.
kphoger once told a story (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=26000.msg2474832#msg2474832) where his mom successfully received a letter addressed only to "Nurse Sue, Atwood KS".
Walter Gretzky's biography of his son mentioned how little kids in other countries sometimes addressed letters simply to "Wayne Gretzky, Kanada," and they'd get there–presumably the foreign post office just sent it to Canada and then the Canadian post office knew who Gretzky was and sent it on to Edmonton.
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 29, 2021, 07:40:28 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 29, 2021, 01:36:26 AM
Quote from: kkt on December 28, 2021, 11:48:36 PM
A friend used to play games with the addresses. Omit the zip code. Omit the zip code and the state. Omit everything BUT the 9-digit zip code (it worked - it was a PO box and the 9-digit zip code encorporated the box number).
For first class mail, there's no extra charge for omitting the zip code. But I believe to qualify for bulk mailing rates the zip code may be required.
I was always curious how viable it would be to substitute a numbered route designation for the street name in urban areas, but I've never had access to a box on a numbered route to test it.
kphoger once told a story (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=26000.msg2474832#msg2474832) where his mom successfully received a letter addressed only to "Nurse Sue, Atwood KS".
Walter Gretzky's biography of his son mentioned how little kids in other countries sometimes addressed letters simply to "Wayne Gretzky, Kanada," and they'd get there–presumably the foreign post office just sent it to Canada and then the Canadian post office knew who Gretzky was and sent it on to Edmonton.
I have a post office box in my town for work, and the boxes have their own zip code and my box number is the +4. I would use that as my return address. When I was getting a letter sent certified, one of the clerks told me that just using that number wasn't an appropriate return address. I responded where would it go otherwise, my zip +4 was only for my PO Box. She didn't have an answer. I have had quite a few letters returned (person moved, etc), and there was no problem getting it back to my box with only the zip +4 as the return address.
The main argument for including all of the extra information that isn't just the ZIP+4+DPC is for redundancy. Sure, "73070-1428" identifies my PO box uniquely, but if even one of the digits gets obliterated it's headed off to the dead letter office.
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on December 23, 2021, 04:41:25 PM
So, with the +4 code and the last two digits of the address, you pretty much get a single house. An apartment building will often have its own +4 code with the apartment number being the the delivery point. There's also a system if the apartments are lettered instead of numbered. Post office boxes have another system, based on the box number, as you've seen.
I live in a condo building with about 180 units. We have 6 +4 codes just in our building. Interestingly, they are not sequentially numbered. They are, in sequence from lowest to highest numbered unit:
-3152
-3166
-3167
-3153
-3154
-3165
I am the last unit in -3153, my next door neighbor is in -3154.
Our mailboxes are all in the same mailroom, in banks. I happen to be the last box in my bank, and my neighbor is the first box in the next bank.
Quote from: bing101 on December 29, 2021, 07:26:17 AM
Interestingly New Jersey has 00 Zip Codes and not 10 zip codes. It's interesting to see New Jersey get New England designated zip codes.
And Puerto Rico.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 29, 2021, 01:56:10 PM
The main argument for including all of the extra information that isn't just the ZIP+4+DPC is for redundancy. Sure, "73070-1428" identifies my PO box uniquely, but if even one of the digits gets obliterated it's headed off to the dead letter office.
The other reason that I just put the zip code only on my returns, is that very simply I get lazy with my work :-/
Quote from: frankenroad on December 29, 2021, 04:02:32 PM
I live in a condo building with about 180 units. We have 6 +4 codes just in our building. Interestingly, they are not sequentially numbered. They are, in sequence from lowest to highest numbered unit:
-3152
-3166
-3167
-3153
-3154
-3165
I am the last unit in -3153, my next door neighbor is in -3154.
Our mailboxes are all in the same mailroom, in banks. I happen to be the last box in my bank, and my neighbor is the first box in the next bank.
My current complex is all one +4 except for 2 units. The reason is the delivery point code, the extra two numbers that come after the Zip+4 (usually based on the 2 last digits of the numbered address), would have been duplicated. Those two units have their own +4 assigned to them. Note that every delivery point in the US has a unique 11 digit number assigned to it, its just internally used by the post office and encoded with that printed barcode. You can likely address an envelope with just this 11 digit number and it'll reach its destination.
This is a sharp contrast to the alphanumeric post code system used by the UK and Canada, which DOES encode the exact address point.
I looked up the ZIP+4 31415-9265 (the first nine digits of pi) to see if it existed. Sadly, it does not, but it would be in Savannah, GA if it did.
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 02:36:59 PM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on December 23, 2021, 01:20:57 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 07:39:08 AM
^^^^^
"ZIP" in "ZIP Code" is an acronym that stands for "Zone Improvement Program." That name had the happy coincidence of shortening to a word that connotes speed, as in faster mail delivery, so the term stuck.
I don't think it was a coincidence at all, if for no other reason that the expression "zone improvement plan" doesn't really make sense. I mean, you don't really improve a zone by giving it a number.
Well, it certainly wasn't a "coincidence" that they chose a catchy name for marketing purposes in conveying it to the public. Insofar as the system "improved" on their ability to process mail quickly using the existing postal "zones," though, I suppose the name makes sense. As seen in the example in my prior post, some large cities were divided into "postal zones" to help with processing mail there by routing it to the appropriate post office within the larger area. The ZIP Code system expands that to the country as a whole. I've never bothered to find out what the additional four digits after the hyphen mean, though I know what the full ZIP+4 is for our house and my mom's house.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on December 23, 2021, 02:31:47 PM
I now believe the highest differences may be along the Mississippi/Arkansas border. Crossing the Mississippi river on US 49 means a jump of 33,716 between Dundee, MS's 38626 and Helena (part of Helena West Helena), AR's 72342. Of course, that using only postcodes that get called "ZIP codes", the French example I posted above is over 80,000; courtesy of France numbering their departments by alphabetical order and no. 04 (Alpes de Haute Provence) bordering no. 84 (Vaucluse).
That seems highly likely to be correct:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/ZIP_Code_zones.svg/400px-ZIP_Code_zones.svg.png)
This map is not entirely accurate. One of Austin's ZIPs is 73301.
Interestingly, despite neat-looking maps like the one above from Wikipedia, some zip codes in the rural west cross state lines, generally in remote areas where mail delivery routes are more limited often due to terrain. From what I can tell, the following zip codes cross the Utah state line:
81324 (Dove Creek, CO) - extends into parts of eastern San Juan County, UT that are difficult to access from the Utah side due to Montezuma Canyon
82930 (Evanston, WY) - includes regions in Utah north of the Uinta Mountains, inaccessible from the rest of Utah in winter
83312 (Almo, ID) - extends into a small part of northern Utah, including the community of Lynn, isolated from the rest of Utah by the Raft River Mountains
83342 (Malta, ID) - also extends into regions of Utah north of the Raft Rivers, including the communities of Standrod and Yost
84034 (Ibapah, UT) - covers neighboring parts of Nevada, though oddly this entire region is only accessible year-round by going through Nevada
84531 (Mexican Hat, UT) - extends into a remote part of northwestern Apache County, AZ only accessible through Utah
84536 (Monument Valley, UT) - covers both the Utah and Arizona sides of this border community
86044 (Tonalea, AZ) - extends into Navajo Mountain region of Utah, which you can't get to from the rest of Utah with multiple rivers and canyons in the way
86514 (Teec Nos Pos, AZ) - includes parts of southeastern San Juan County, UT near the Four Corners
83414 (Alta, WY) is a similar case: although it is entirely located in Wyoming, it has an Idaho code because you can't get there from the rest of Wyoming with the Tetons in the way.
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 02:36:59 PM
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/ZIP_Code_zones.svg/400px-ZIP_Code_zones.svg.png)
Anybody else find it odd that Kentucky has a lower population than Indiana, and Michigan but got 3 blocks of ZIP Codes compared to 2 for the other states.
^^ And Iowa has 3 blocks with an even lower population.
Quote from: cabiness42 on January 08, 2022, 01:14:21 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 23, 2021, 02:36:59 PM
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/ZIP_Code_zones.svg/400px-ZIP_Code_zones.svg.png)
Anybody else find it odd that Kentucky has a lower population than Indiana, and Michigan but got 3 blocks of ZIP Codes compared to 2 for the other states.
Remember that Zip Codes are mostly assigned per Post Office (circa 1960, when there were one-third more of them (https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/pieces-of-mail-since-1789.pdf)), not so much by population. Every tiny little PO in Kentucky and Iowa got its own Zip Code when they were first assigned. Indiana and Michigan probably had fewer of those backwoods and crossroad PO's, so they needed fewer Zip Codes.
Hmm, which leads to the question...Do ZIP codes belonging to dead post offices get recycled?
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 09, 2022, 05:41:47 AM
Hmm, which leads to the question...Do ZIP codes belonging to dead post offices get recycled?
It isn't really needed. None of the three digit blocks around here come close to using all of their possible numbers. My area (463) only uses 52 of 99 possible numbers. A neighboring area (464) only uses 11.
Quote from: cabiness42 on January 09, 2022, 10:23:34 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 09, 2022, 05:41:47 AM
Hmm, which leads to the question...Do ZIP codes belonging to dead post offices get recycled?
It isn't really needed. None of the three digit blocks around here come close to using all of their possible numbers. My area (463) only uses 52 of 99 possible numbers. A neighboring area (464) only uses 11.
Ehh depends on where you are. In rapidly growing areas that weren't so big back when the codes were first assigned, some of the blocks come close. The 840xx block (northern/northeastern Utah) uses 82 of its 99 possible numbers, for example. However, zip code blocks like that are going to be rapidly growing areas and likely don't have many dead post offices...
Quote from: US 89 on January 09, 2022, 11:24:57 AM
Quote from: cabiness42 on January 09, 2022, 10:23:34 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 09, 2022, 05:41:47 AM
Hmm, which leads to the question...Do ZIP codes belonging to dead post offices get recycled?
It isn't really needed. None of the three digit blocks around here come close to using all of their possible numbers. My area (463) only uses 52 of 99 possible numbers. A neighboring area (464) only uses 11.
Ehh depends on where you are. In rapidly growing areas that weren't so big back when the codes were first assigned, some of the blocks come close. The 840xx block (northern/northeastern Utah) uses 82 of its 99 possible numbers, for example. However, zip code blocks like that are going to be rapidly growing areas and likely don't have many dead post offices...
I could see a block that contains an urban area and a lot of rural land having post offices close as rural towns dry up while new ones are needed closer in to the city.
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 09, 2022, 04:05:30 PM
Quote from: US 89 on January 09, 2022, 11:24:57 AM
Quote from: cabiness42 on January 09, 2022, 10:23:34 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 09, 2022, 05:41:47 AM
Hmm, which leads to the question...Do ZIP codes belonging to dead post offices get recycled?
It isn't really needed. None of the three digit blocks around here come close to using all of their possible numbers. My area (463) only uses 52 of 99 possible numbers. A neighboring area (464) only uses 11.
Ehh depends on where you are. In rapidly growing areas that weren't so big back when the codes were first assigned, some of the blocks come close. The 840xx block (northern/northeastern Utah) uses 82 of its 99 possible numbers, for example. However, zip code blocks like that are going to be rapidly growing areas and likely don't have many dead post offices...
I could see a block that contains an urban area and a lot of rural land having post offices close as rural towns dry up while new ones are needed closer in to the city.
I wonder if mailing addresses actually change their zip codes when post offices close. That would be a can of worms...
Another thing to note about ZIP codes is that they're assigned by USPS and may not correspond to municipal boundaries.
ZIP Code 46410 is for Merrillville, but there are parts of the ZIP Code in Gary, and other parts in Hobart.
My Zip Code changed a few years ago when they stopped distributing mail from the office downtown and moved it out to a less populated area on the edge of town.
I remember a Saturday Night Live sketch where the premise was that the Postal Service was changing the Zip Code of 90210, and the cast of Beverly Hills 90210 was worried about being associated with a code from a poorer part of town.
Quote from: cabiness42 on January 09, 2022, 05:36:06 PM
Another thing to note about ZIP codes is that they're assigned by USPS and may not correspond to municipal boundaries.
ZIP Code 46410 is for Merrillville, but there are parts of the ZIP Code in Gary, and other parts in Hobart.
Yep. Zip codes are often for a portion of a town, complete multiple towns, or mainly one town but encroaches on other towns.
On the news, if they're talking about a place in a certain town but they refer to it as in a neighboring town, they're looking at the the Zip code, not the actual town.
Town boundaries - Yes, this is a thing. In my neck of the woods, the post office uses Hurricane (25526) for a large area including land 6 or more miles from the actual town of Hurricane. Causes confusion in all sorts of things, mostly because businesses will have a Hurricane address, but be located just off the next exit, miles from Hurricane; and because there will be two of something (like McDonalds, a bank, etc.) one off the Hurricane exit and one off the next (Teays Valley) exit, both with a Hurricane address.
Changing and cancelling zip codes. As I understand it, the USPS can change where it sorts the mail, and had done that a lot in the last 10 years. Around here mail was sorted in 8 different places, but all was consolidated to just Charleston. However, Congress has a veto over post offices closing, and they just never do. They came out with a big list of ones they wanted to close around Appalachia, due to the population losses, but were frustrated at every turn and eventually just gave up. I can only think of like 3 they actually got to close.
Quote from: SP Cook on January 12, 2022, 09:18:50 AM
Town boundaries - Yes, this is a thing. In my neck of the woods, the post office uses Hurricane (25526) for a large area including land 6 or more miles from the actual town of Hurricane. Causes confusion in all sorts of things, mostly because businesses will have a Hurricane address, but be located just off the next exit, miles from Hurricane; and because there will be two of something (like McDonalds, a bank, etc.) one off the Hurricane exit and one off the next (Teays Valley) exit, both with a Hurricane address.
....
That's an annoyance here too because the post office applies "Alexandria" to a large portion of southeastern Fairfax County. Some local news reporters are aware of the difference and will sometimes refer to "the Alexandria portion of Fairfax County"; others do not. It leads to some confusion even among some residents. When my wife and I got married, I had the hardest time getting her to understand that despite what the post office says, we do not live in the City of Alexandria and we do not owe car tax to the city. She ignored me and paid a car tax bill to the City that she didn't owe (she moved out of the City prior to the due date), so we had to jump through hoops to get a refund. Pain in the arse.
On the map below, the reddish-brown area labelled simply "Alexandria" is the area the post office incorrectly calls by that name. It's part of Fairfax County. Only the blue area is properly "Alexandria."
(https://www.militarybyowner.com/assets/1/6/pasted_image_0.png)
I have friends who have had similar issues in the Salt Lake City area. The post office uses "Salt Lake City UT" as the recommended city name for almost everywhere with an 841xx zip code, which covers a big chunk of northern and eastern Salt Lake County. Less than half of that area is Salt Lake City proper. Some of the codes have "West Valley City UT" as the preferred address, but other than that, most of SLC's inner suburbs might as well not exist according to the post office.
The other weird thing the post office will do sometimes is assign a code to multiple cities/towns and give it a completely new name. 84013, for example, covers an area of northwestern Utah County that includes the towns of Cedar Fort and Fairfield. The assigned name for that code is "Cedar Valley UT", which is not a town at all but is the name for the valley that includes those towns as well as Eagle Mountain, which is an alternate name for 84013 even though almost all of it has its own code (84005). Fairfield is also an alternate name for 84013, but interestingly Cedar Fort is explicitly listed as a city name to avoid.
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 12, 2022, 10:03:28 AM
Quote from: SP Cook on January 12, 2022, 09:18:50 AM
Town boundaries - Yes, this is a thing. In my neck of the woods, the post office uses Hurricane (25526) for a large area including land 6 or more miles from the actual town of Hurricane. Causes confusion in all sorts of things, mostly because businesses will have a Hurricane address, but be located just off the next exit, miles from Hurricane; and because there will be two of something (like McDonalds, a bank, etc.) one off the Hurricane exit and one off the next (Teays Valley) exit, both with a Hurricane address.
....
That's an annoyance here too because the post office applies "Alexandria" to a large portion of southeastern Fairfax County. Some local news reporters are aware of the difference and will sometimes refer to "the Alexandria portion of Fairfax County"; others do not. It leads to some confusion even among some residents. When my wife and I got married, I had the hardest time getting her to understand that despite what the post office says, we do not live in the City of Alexandria and we do not owe car tax to the city. She ignored me and paid a car tax bill to the City that she didn't owe (she moved out of the City prior to the due date), so we had to jump through hoops to get a refund. Pain in the arse.
On the map below, the reddish-brown area labelled simply "Alexandria" is the area the post office incorrectly calls by that name. It's part of Fairfax County. Only the blue area is properly "Alexandria."
(https://www.militarybyowner.com/assets/1/6/pasted_image_0.png)
This is quite interesting.
1) Do you know if there are any individual zip codes that are in both City of Alexandria and the Alexandria part of Fairfax County?
2) Is there a good alternate name that would encompass all of the neighborhoods that are in the reddish-brown portion of the map? Perhaps something like South Alexandria?
IIRC there are similar issues with Falls Church. The city of Falls Church (not a part of Fairfax County) is quite small. Some neighboring sections of Fairfax County are known to the post office as Falls Church.
Quote from: mrsman on January 17, 2022, 04:24:20 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 12, 2022, 10:03:28 AM
Quote from: SP Cook on January 12, 2022, 09:18:50 AM
Town boundaries - Yes, this is a thing. In my neck of the woods, the post office uses Hurricane (25526) for a large area including land 6 or more miles from the actual town of Hurricane. Causes confusion in all sorts of things, mostly because businesses will have a Hurricane address, but be located just off the next exit, miles from Hurricane; and because there will be two of something (like McDonalds, a bank, etc.) one off the Hurricane exit and one off the next (Teays Valley) exit, both with a Hurricane address.
....
That's an annoyance here too because the post office applies "Alexandria" to a large portion of southeastern Fairfax County. Some local news reporters are aware of the difference and will sometimes refer to "the Alexandria portion of Fairfax County"; others do not. It leads to some confusion even among some residents. When my wife and I got married, I had the hardest time getting her to understand that despite what the post office says, we do not live in the City of Alexandria and we do not owe car tax to the city. She ignored me and paid a car tax bill to the City that she didn't owe (she moved out of the City prior to the due date), so we had to jump through hoops to get a refund. Pain in the arse.
On the map below, the reddish-brown area labelled simply "Alexandria" is the area the post office incorrectly calls by that name. It's part of Fairfax County. Only the blue area is properly "Alexandria."\
This is quite interesting.
1) Do you know if there are any individual zip codes that are in both City of Alexandria and the Alexandria part of Fairfax County?
2) Is there a good alternate name that would encompass all of the neighborhoods that are in the reddish-brown portion of the map? Perhaps something like South Alexandria?
IIRC there are similar issues with Falls Church. The city of Falls Church (not a part of Fairfax County) is quite small. Some neighboring sections of Fairfax County are known to the post office as Falls Church.
I lived in Alexandria (city part) for a year, very near Landmark Mall. I just checked and it looks like 22311 and 22312 have sizable portions in both parts. There are a couple others that look like they might have a sliver in the other part.
I've never heard of that area referred to as a whole. The names I heard most often are Springfield, Franconia and Huntington, which are also the names of Metro stops.
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 09, 2022, 05:41:47 AM
Hmm, which leads to the question...Do ZIP codes belonging to dead post offices get recycled?
I think it's possible in rapidly-growing areas like North Texas. The city of Celina is projected to be the largest suburb in DFW by 2040 and its zip code is 75009. The next available ZIP code is 75012 because Carrollton snapped up 75010 and 75011. New ZIP codes have been added to Frisco, McKinney and Sherman just in the last few years.
There definitely is a very intricate system to the numbering of the zip codes.
Here's an example:
900xx are ZIP codes for the city of Los Angeles. The xx are carryovers from postal local zone codes that large cities had in the pre-ZIP code days. So Los Angeles 28 became ZIP CODE: 90028
The next set of numbers comprise the suburbs that are immediately west and south of Los Angeles. They all use the Inglewood regional post office before sorting to the individual post offices in each city.
A full listing can be found here:
https://www.ciclt.net/sn/clt/capitolimpact/gw_ziplist.aspx?zip=902
But here is a sampling:
90201 Bell
90210 Beverly Hills
90220 Compton
90230 Culver City
90240 Downey
90245 El Segundo
90247 Gardena
So you can see that the zip codes within the 902 group were assigned in alphabetical order. Of course, new communities were identified later, which is why you see something out of order like 90224 for Rancho Dominguez. Back in the 1960's this was known as generally part of Compton and only later has the community formed its own identity.
The next set of numbers represent the three largest suburbs south and west of L.A. that were so big they got their own grouping codes:
903 Inglewood
904 Santa Monica
905 Torrance
(also alphabetic order)
Of course, the point of the codes is efficinecy in mail delivery, so the codes do not necessarily follow political boundaries perfectly.
Quote from: mrsman on January 17, 2022, 04:24:20 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 12, 2022, 10:03:28 AM
....
(https://www.militarybyowner.com/assets/1/6/pasted_image_0.png)
This is quite interesting.
1) Do you know if there are any individual zip codes that are in both City of Alexandria and the Alexandria part of Fairfax County?
2) Is there a good alternate name that would encompass all of the neighborhoods that are in the reddish-brown portion of the map? Perhaps something like South Alexandria?
IIRC there are similar issues with Falls Church. The city of Falls Church (not a part of Fairfax County) is quite small. Some neighboring sections of Fairfax County are known to the post office as Falls Church.
As to question #1, I don't know, but I have no reason to doubt cabiness42's answer above.
As to question #2, most neighborhoods have their own names and the post office generally allows them to be used in addresses. I live in Kingstowne, for example (somewhat near the "A" in the boldfaced black "Alexandria" on that map); Franconia is nearby, Mount Vernon is a well-known name for the area near where George Washington lived, there's also Hayfield, Huntington, Groveton, and Fort Hunt (once upon a time, Groveton and Fort Hunt High Schools were intense rivals until they were merged into the massive West Potomac High School in the 1980s). But I don't know why there would need to be a single name for the whole area anyway. The rest of Fairfax County has all sorts of names that do not necessarily reflect independent municipalities nor even towns (under Virginia law, a town is less than a city and is part of the surrounding county but has certain additional responsibilities–Falls Church is a city, but Vienna, Herndon, and Clifton are towns). Annandale is not a city or town but is a well-known place name and ZIP Code, for example. Same for Springfield, Reston, Great Falls, etc. These all seem to work well enough, so I'm not sure why the post office feels "Alexandria" is needed for southeastern Fairfax County.
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 18, 2022, 12:24:59 PM
I'm not sure why the post office feels "Alexandria" is needed for southeastern Fairfax County.
My guess is that having "Alexandria" on your address helps property values and that there was some politics involved.
Quote from: mrsman on January 18, 2022, 11:53:03 AM
There definitely is a very intricate system to the numbering of the zip codes.
Here's an example:
900xx are ZIP codes for the city of Los Angeles. The xx are carryovers from postal local zone codes that large cities had in the pre-ZIP code days. So Los Angeles 28 became ZIP CODE: 90028
The next set of numbers comprise the suburbs that are immediately west and south of Los Angeles. They all use the Inglewood regional post office before sorting to the individual post offices in each city.
A full listing can be found here:
https://www.ciclt.net/sn/clt/capitolimpact/gw_ziplist.aspx?zip=902
But here is a sampling:
90201 Bell
90210 Beverly Hills
90220 Compton
90230 Culver City
90240 Downey
90245 El Segundo
90247 Gardena
So you can see that the zip codes within the 902 group were assigned in alphabetical order. Of course, new communities were identified later, which is why you see something out of order like 90224 for Rancho Dominguez. Back in the 1960's this was known as generally part of Compton and only later has the community formed its own identity.
The next set of numbers represent the three largest suburbs south and west of L.A. that were so big they got their own grouping codes:
903 Inglewood
904 Santa Monica
905 Torrance
(also alphabetic order)
Of course, the point of the codes is efficinecy in mail delivery, so the codes do not necessarily follow political boundaries perfectly.
Similarly, in the Chicagoland area, (nearly?) all locations in the City of Chicago are 606xx, starting with 60601 being a handful of blocks in the downtown area. 60606 is the Sears (or whatever it's called now) Tower, plus a couple of more downtown blocks, etc.
600xx through 605XX are sectors of suburbs starting with 600xx being the north shore suburbs and the sectors continuing anti-clockwise around the city with 605xx being the south suburbs near and along the Indiana state line.
In metro Milwaukee, WI, the city and some older inner suburbs are 532xx (some of those suburbs (ie, West Allis and Wauwatosa)are normally addressed as 'Milwaukee, WI 532xx'). The farther out suburbs and continuing into the hinterlands are 530xx (generally north) and 531xx (generally south).
Mike
One slight flub. He said the Post Office was using a three digit inner-city code before the full Zip Code. Actually it was two digits.
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 09, 2022, 05:41:47 AM
Hmm, which leads to the question...Do ZIP codes belonging to dead post offices get recycled?
28335 is used by a former Dunn PO, now it is merged with 28334. Old Post office was 28335 and the new one on Clinton Ave was 28334. Nevertheless, the PO in Dunn uses 28334/5 to maintain this. :nod:
Quote from: mgk920 on January 19, 2022, 12:32:08 AM
Similarly, in the Chicagoland area, (nearly?) all locations in the City of Chicago are 606xx, starting with 60601 being a handful of blocks in the downtown area. 60606 is the Sears (or whatever it's called now) Tower, plus a couple of more downtown blocks, etc.
600xx through 605XX are sectors of suburbs starting with 600xx being the north shore suburbs and the sectors continuing anti-clockwise around the city with 605xx being the south suburbs near and along the Indiana state line.
Chicago also uses some ZIP codes in the 607 and 608 blocks, although most of those are assigned to adjacent suburbs, such as 60714 in Niles. 609 is the furthest-south suburban area, with Kankakee being the main PO, 60901. IIRC, all 60xxx codes route through Chicago.
Arizona is in need of a ZIP Code expansion. The state is assigned 850 thru 869, but 854, 858, 861, 862, and 865-869 are not used. 851 was created mostly for Pinal County only about a decade or so ago, split from 852.
All of southwest and western Arizona is part of the 853 block, despite being nowhere near the metro Phoenix area. It could (and should, IMHO) be changed to 858xx, with Yuma as the main PO. We're hearing rumors about the 852 block (eastern Phoenix suburbs in Maricopa County) being split again, with Mesa and Gilbert keeping 852 while Chandler, Tempe, Scottsdale, and the adjacent Native American communities moving to 854. Nothing official yet, though.
Quote from: ErmineNotyours on January 19, 2022, 03:34:55 AM
One slight flub. He said the Post Office was using a three digit inner-city code before the full Zip Code. Actually it was two digits.
lso, "MAIL EARLY IN THE DAY!" -- Shen I was very young, INTO THE Early-mid 1970s, mail deposited at the Appleton, WI Post Office by 0700 and destined for addresses in Appleton, WI (at the time, to all addresses in the original 54911 ZIP code) (now all active ZIP codes from 45911 to 64919) was delivered THAT DAY. Now, it is processed in Milwaukee, WI (530) and takes 2-3 days to be delivered.
<sigh...>
Mike
27858 is where I live and it's pretty much in the inner banks of North Carolina.
Quote from: snowc on January 19, 2022, 09:54:59 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 09, 2022, 05:41:47 AM
Hmm, which leads to the question...Do ZIP codes belonging to dead post offices get recycled?
28335 is used by a former Dunn PO, now it is merged with 28334. Old Post office was 28335 and the new one on Clinton Ave was 28334. Nevertheless, the PO in Dunn uses 28334/5 to maintain this. :nod:
Not quite what I'm talking about–it sounds like the 28335 is simply being served out of a new post office building that also serves another zip. I'm talking about a situation where Bertville, zip 73271, has its button copy factory close down and the town loses enough population for the PO to close. Then later, a new suburb elsewhere in the state called Erniedale merits a PO for the first time, and they assign 73271 to it.