Updated on May 24, 2021
The history of the postal service of the USA is an ongoing process and its keep developing with each day. Currently the United States Postal Service (also known as USPS) is an autonomous branch of the US federal government which is responsible for providing Postal service in the USA. It is in charge of mailing letters, packages, selling stamps, mailing supplies, etc.
How Was the USPS Established?
The history of today USPS began on 26th July 1775 when the US postal system was established by the second Continental Congress. The congress appointed Benjamin Franklin as its first Postmaster General, at the same time he served alike position for the colonies of the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Congress paid him a salary 1000 usd a year. He was in charge for all Post Offices and could hire as many postmasters as he could. Benjamin Franklin did a lot for the Postal Service, he adjusted and upgraded the postal delivery system, and expanded its service creating routes from Florida to Maine and services between Britain and colonies.First Post Office Department was established in 1792 and in 1872 it was elevated to a cabinet-level department, and afterwards was transformed by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 into the USPS as an independent agency. The first post officemostly transferred information between the Army and congress.
How did Home Delivery Start?
In the beginning there was not home delivery. In 1847, the very first U.S. postage stamps were issued. But if you wanted to get your mail, you had to go to the postal office and receive it there. Free CityDelivery began in 1863 by a hard-working postal worker in Ohio. He was the first one who started delivering letters to his customers because he was sad seeing his female customers standing in line in the cold, waiting for the news from their loved soldiers fighting in the war. This news spread very fast, and mail home delivery became normal.
In 1850 the United Post office department started installing first mail collection boxes outside of post offices. Originally it was red or green color but in 1909 all post boxes were paintedgreento avoid confusion with emergency tools. In 1971 the USPS changed mailboxes color to the current Dark Blue style.
Postal Service in the US today
As you can see the United States Postal Service has grown and developed along with America, fearlessly embracing all the new technologies to deliver a better service for American growing population. And today the USA has more than 40,000 post offices and it delivers over 212 billion pieces of mail every year. The postal office is a self-supporting agency that exists thanks to postage (stamp use) and similar products.
In 2021 another kind of mail service is going viral – virtual mailboxes. A virtual mailbox is a mail service that receives physical mail on your behalf allowing you to have access to your mail digitally from anywhere in the world. This service also includesmail forwarding, scanning, recycling, etc. In the United States, virtual mailbox companies are classified as CMRA (commercial mail receiving agencies). The alternative for is USPS PO boxes.
A post office box, or a PO box is a unique mailbox with its special box number located at a post office. PO boxes are very convenient in use, most of them have 24/7 access and since its hosted by the USPS, the delivery for mail and packages is much faster.