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Post office

January 23, 2023

For national postal networks, sometimes called "the Post Office", see Mail. For other uses, see Post Office (disambiguation).
"Posting house" redirects here. For other uses, see Post House (disambiguation).

A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional services, which vary by country. These include providing and accepting government forms (such as passport applications), and processing government services and fees (such as road tax, postal savings, or bank fees).[1] The chief administrator of a post office is called a postmaster.

A post office building in Edithburgh, Australia
West Toledo Branch Post Office in Toledo, Ohio, in 1912

Before the advent of postal codes and the post office, postal systems would route items to a specific post office for receipt or delivery. During the 19th century in the United States, this often led to smaller communities being renamed after their post offices, particularly after the Post Office Department began to require that post office names not be duplicated within a state.[2]

Name

 
The old General Post Office on Lombard Street, London, in 1803
 
A Canadian sorting office in 2006

The term "post-office"[3] has been in use since the 1650s,[4] shortly after the legalisation of private mail services in England in 1635.[5] In early modern England, post riders—mounted couriers—were placed, or "posted",[6] every few hours along post roads at posting houses (also known as post houses) between major cities, or "post towns". These stables or inns permitted important correspondence to travel without delay. In early America, post offices were also known as stations. This term, as well as the term "post house", fell from use as horse and coach services were replaced by railways, aircraft, and automobiles.

Today, the term "post office" usually refers to government postal facilities providing customer service. "General Post Office" is sometimes used for the national headquarters of a postal service, even if the building does not provide customer service. A postal facility that is used exclusively for processing mail is instead known as a sorting office or delivery office, which may have a large central area known as a sorting or postal hall. Integrated facilities combining mail processing with railway stations or airports are known as mail exchanges.

In India, post offices are found in almost every village having panchayat (a "village council"), towns, cities, and throughout the geographical area of India. India's postal system changed its name to India Post after the advent of private courier companies in the 1990s. It is run by the Indian government's Department of Posts.[7] India Post accepts and delivers inland letters, postcards, parcels, postal stamps, and money orders (money transfers). Few post offices in India offer speed post (fast delivery) and payments or bank savings services. It is also uncommon for Indian post offices to sell insurance policies or accept payment for electricity, landline telephone, or gas bills. Until the 1990s, post offices would collect fees for radio licenses, recruitment for government jobs, and the operation of public call telephone (PCO) booths. Postmen would deliver letters, money orders, and parcels to places that are within the assigned area of a particular post office but there are no post offices in the location. Each Indian post office is assigned a unique six-digit code called the Postal Index Number, or PIN. Each post office is identified by its PIN.

Private courier and delivery services often have offices as well, although these are usually not called "post offices", except in the case of Germany, which has fully privatised its national postal system.[citation needed]

As abbreviation PO is used, together with GPO for General Post Office and LPO for Licensed Post Office.

History

 
Postal clerks in a cartoon on the 1840 Penny Penates postcard
 
Old post office in Toompea in Tallinn, Estonia

There is evidence of corps of royal couriers disseminating the decrees of Egyptian pharaohs as early as 2400 BCE, and it is possible that the service greatly precedes that date. Similarly, there may be ancient organised systems of post houses providing mounted courier service, although sources vary as to precisely who initiated the practice.[8]

In the Persian Empire, a Chapar Khaneh system existed along the Royal Road. Similar postage systems were established in India and China by the Mauryan and Han dynasties in the 2nd century BCE.

The Roman historian Suetonius credited Augustus with regularising the Roman transportation and courier network, the Cursus Publicus. Local officials were obliged to provide couriers who would be responsible for their message's entire course. Locally maintained post houses (Latin: stationes) privately owned rest houses (Latin: mansiones) and were obliged or honored to care for couriers along their way. The Roman emperor Diocletian later established two parallel systems: one providing fresh horses or mules for urgent correspondence and the other providing sturdy oxen for bulk shipments. The Byzantine historian Procopius, though not unbiased, records the Cursus Publicus system remained largely intact until it was dismantled in the Byzantine empire by the emperor Justinian in the 6th century.

The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis family initiated regular mail service from Brussels in the 16th century, directing the Imperial Post of the Holy Roman Empire. The British Postal Museum claims that the oldest functioning post office in the world is on High Street in Sanquhar, Scotland. The post office has functioned continuously since 1712, during which horses and stagecoaches were used to carry mail.

In parts of Europe, special postal censorship offices existed[when?] to intercept and censor mail. In France, such offices were known as cabinets noirs.

Unstaffed postal facilities

 
Students attend an unstaffed postal facility
 
The Inland Letter Office of the London GPO in 1845

In many jurisdictions, mailboxes and post office boxes have long been in widespread use for drop-off and pickup (respectively) of mail and small packages outside post offices or when offices are closed. Germany's national postage system Deutsche Post introduced the Pack-Station for package delivery, including both drop-off and pickup, in 2001. In the 2000s, the United States Postal Service began to install Automated Postal Centers (APCs) in many locations in both post offices, for when they are closed or busy, and retail locations.[9] APCs can print postage and accept mail and small packages.

Notable post offices

Operational

Former

Historic

See also

References

  1. ^ . Canada Post. Archived from the original on January 18, 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-08.
  2. ^ United States Postal Service. "What's in a (Post Office) Name? 2013-03-30 at the Wayback Machine" August 2008. Accessed 2 October 2013.
  3. ^ Webster, Noah. American Dictionary of the English Language, "post-house 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine". Accessed 2 October 2013.
  4. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, "post office 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine". 2013. Accessed 2 October 2013.
  5. ^ The British Postal Museum and Archive. "The Secret Room 2012-08-31 at the Wayback Machine". 2011. Accessed 2 October 2013.
  6. ^ Harper (2013), "post 2013-09-30 at the Wayback Machine". Accessed 2 October 2013.
  7. ^ "About Us". Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  8. ^ Xenophon credits Cyrus the Great of Persia, others credit his successor Darius I or the earlier Babylonian king Hammurabi or the Assyrian king Sargon II.
  9. ^ "Derry store's postal kiosk a 1st in New England". Union Leader. December 11, 2011.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Post offices.
 
Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article "Post-Office".
  • Photos of post offices around the world
  • Royal Mail
  • The British Postal Museum & Archive
  • United Kingdom Post Office site
  • United States Postal Service
  • Universal Postal Union

January 23, 2023
post, office, national, postal, networks, sometimes, called, post, office, mail, other, uses, post, office, disambiguation, posting, house, redirects, here, other, uses, post, house, disambiguation, post, office, public, facility, retailer, that, provides, mai. For national postal networks sometimes called the Post Office see Mail For other uses see Post Office disambiguation Posting house redirects here For other uses see Post House disambiguation A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services such as accepting letters and parcels providing post office boxes and selling postage stamps packaging and stationery Post offices may offer additional services which vary by country These include providing and accepting government forms such as passport applications and processing government services and fees such as road tax postal savings or bank fees 1 The chief administrator of a post office is called a postmaster A post office building in Edithburgh Australia West Toledo Branch Post Office in Toledo Ohio in 1912 Before the advent of postal codes and the post office postal systems would route items to a specific post office for receipt or delivery During the 19th century in the United States this often led to smaller communities being renamed after their post offices particularly after the Post Office Department began to require that post office names not be duplicated within a state 2 Contents 1 Name 2 History 3 Unstaffed postal facilities 4 Notable post offices 4 1 Operational 4 2 Former 4 3 Historic 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksName Edit The old General Post Office on Lombard Street London in 1803 A Canadian sorting office in 2006 The term post office 3 has been in use since the 1650s 4 shortly after the legalisation of private mail services in England in 1635 5 In early modern England post riders mounted couriers were placed or posted 6 every few hours along post roads at posting houses also known as post houses between major cities or post towns These stables or inns permitted important correspondence to travel without delay In early America post offices were also known as stations This term as well as the term post house fell from use as horse and coach services were replaced by railways aircraft and automobiles Today the term post office usually refers to government postal facilities providing customer service General Post Office is sometimes used for the national headquarters of a postal service even if the building does not provide customer service A postal facility that is used exclusively for processing mail is instead known as a sorting office or delivery office which may have a large central area known as a sorting or postal hall Integrated facilities combining mail processing with railway stations or airports are known as mail exchanges In India post offices are found in almost every village having panchayat a village council towns cities and throughout the geographical area of India India s postal system changed its name to India Post after the advent of private courier companies in the 1990s It is run by the Indian government s Department of Posts 7 India Post accepts and delivers inland letters postcards parcels postal stamps and money orders money transfers Few post offices in India offer speed post fast delivery and payments or bank savings services It is also uncommon for Indian post offices to sell insurance policies or accept payment for electricity landline telephone or gas bills Until the 1990s post offices would collect fees for radio licenses recruitment for government jobs and the operation of public call telephone PCO booths Postmen would deliver letters money orders and parcels to places that are within the assigned area of a particular post office but there are no post offices in the location Each Indian post office is assigned a unique six digit code called the Postal Index Number or PIN Each post office is identified by its PIN Private courier and delivery services often have offices as well although these are usually not called post offices except in the case of Germany which has fully privatised its national postal system citation needed As abbreviation PO is used together with GPO for General Post Office and LPO for Licensed Post Office History EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed April 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Postal clerks in a cartoon on the 1840 Penny Penates postcard Old post office in Toompea in Tallinn Estonia There is evidence of corps of royal couriers disseminating the decrees of Egyptian pharaohs as early as 2400 BCE and it is possible that the service greatly precedes that date Similarly there may be ancient organised systems of post houses providing mounted courier service although sources vary as to precisely who initiated the practice 8 In the Persian Empire a Chapar Khaneh system existed along the Royal Road Similar postage systems were established in India and China by the Mauryan and Han dynasties in the 2nd century BCE The Roman historian Suetonius credited Augustus with regularising the Roman transportation and courier network the Cursus Publicus Local officials were obliged to provide couriers who would be responsible for their message s entire course Locally maintained post houses Latin stationes privately owned rest houses Latin mansiones and were obliged or honored to care for couriers along their way The Roman emperor Diocletian later established two parallel systems one providing fresh horses or mules for urgent correspondence and the other providing sturdy oxen for bulk shipments The Byzantine historian Procopius though not unbiased records the Cursus Publicus system remained largely intact until it was dismantled in the Byzantine empire by the emperor Justinian in the 6th century The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis family initiated regular mail service from Brussels in the 16th century directing the Imperial Post of the Holy Roman Empire The British Postal Museum claims that the oldest functioning post office in the world is on High Street in Sanquhar Scotland The post office has functioned continuously since 1712 during which horses and stagecoaches were used to carry mail In parts of Europe special postal censorship offices existed when to intercept and censor mail In France such offices were known as cabinets noirs Unstaffed postal facilities Edit Students attend an unstaffed postal facility The Inland Letter Office of the London GPO in 1845 In many jurisdictions mailboxes and post office boxes have long been in widespread use for drop off and pickup respectively of mail and small packages outside post offices or when offices are closed Germany s national postage system Deutsche Post introduced the Pack Station for package delivery including both drop off and pickup in 2001 In the 2000s the United States Postal Service began to install Automated Postal Centers APCs in many locations in both post offices for when they are closed or busy and retail locations 9 APCs can print postage and accept mail and small packages Notable post offices EditOperational Edit General Post Office state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969 General Post Office in Dublin inaugurated 1818 headquarters of the Irish post and headquarters of the 1916 Easter Uprising General Post Office 1864 erected on the site of the Black Hole of Calcutta General Post Office 1874 in Chennai India General Post Office 1887 in Lahore Pakistan General Post Office 1895 the headquarters of the Sri Lankan Post General Post Office 1903 headquarters of the Croatian post General Post Office 1976 the headquarters of Hongkong Post General Post Office 1913 the main post office of Mumbai India and one of the world s largest 120 000 sq ft or 11 000 m2 General Post Office Building 1922 former headquarters of the Chunghwa Post and present home of the Shanghai Postal Museum Central Post Office 1939 also temporary home to the Privy Council of Canada Manila Central Post Office 1926 rebuilt after WWII James Farley Post Office 1912 America s largest operating post office the main office for New York City Bears the famous translation of Herodotus s description of the Persian postal system along its front facade Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds The Edificio Central de Correos y Telegrafos building 1917 San Jose Costa Rica Contains the Costa Rican Philatelic Museum on the second floor Polish Post Office a scene of intense fighting during the 1939 Nazi Germany invasion of Danzig Taipei Post Office 1928 the headquarters of Taiwan Post First Toronto Post Office 1833 Istanbul Main Post Office 1905 home of the Istanbul Postal MuseumFormer Edit Bandinelli Palace 1589 a former post office in Lviv in Ukraine General Post Office Washington D C 1842 the city s first all marble building patterned after Rome s Temple of Jupiter and now a 4 star hotel Hotel Monaco Chief Post Office 1877 the former chief post office of New Zealand in Christchurch Central Post Office Building 1903 home of the Government of Sweden Buenos Aires Central Post Office 1908 now the Bicentennial Cultural Center The Fullerton 1919 a 5 star hotel in Singapore Old Main Post Office 1921 an enormous abandoned structure in Chicago Palazzo Delle Poste 1928 the former post office of Naples Italy heavily damaged during Naples 1943 uprising against the NazisHistoric Edit The General Post Office East 1825 former headquarters of the GPO in London demolished in 1912See also Edit Philately portalPostage stamp Dak bungalows the former posthouses of the British Raj Freepost also known as Business Reply Mail Going postal Mail Military mail Old U S Post Offices Penny Post Post office box Postal administration Postal code ZIP code History of United States postage rates Poste restante also known as General Delivery Universal Postal Union Wanted poster Post Office Wall References Edit Canada Postal Guide Glossary Canada Post Archived from the original on January 18 2006 Retrieved 2006 10 08 United States Postal Service What s in a Post Office Name Archived 2013 03 30 at the Wayback Machine August 2008 Accessed 2 October 2013 Webster Noah American Dictionary of the English Language post house Archived 2013 10 04 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2 October 2013 Harper Douglas Online Etymology Dictionary post office Archived 2013 10 04 at the Wayback Machine 2013 Accessed 2 October 2013 The British Postal Museum and Archive The Secret Room Archived 2012 08 31 at the Wayback Machine 2011 Accessed 2 October 2013 Harper 2013 post Archived 2013 09 30 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2 October 2013 About Us Retrieved 28 March 2021 Xenophon credits Cyrus the Great of Persia others credit his successor Darius I or the earlier Babylonian king Hammurabi or the Assyrian king Sargon II Derry store s postal kiosk a 1st in New England Union Leader December 11 2011 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Post offices Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Post Office Photos of post offices around the world Royal Mail The British Postal Museum amp Archive United Kingdom Post Office site United States Postal Service Universal Postal Union Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Post office amp oldid 1123389822, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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