Executive Board NY Metro APWU

In 1960 Providence, Rhode Island, the first fully automated post office system goes into service, electronically sorting and canceling 18,000 pieces of mail per hour.

The first American postal service was established in the colony of Massachusetts in 1639. From 1707 until the year before the American Revolution, the General Post Office in London controlled the postal service in America. In 1775, the Continental Congress resolved to have a postal system of its own, and Benjamin Franklin was elected to carry on the work. When Congress authorized a postal service in 1789 under the U.S. Constitution, the nation had 75 local post offices, and the mails were carried over 1875 mi (more than 3000 km) of postal routes.

The introduction of adhesive stamps in 1847 greatly simplified post office operations. The system of registering letters was first adopted in 1855. In cities, street letterboxes were introduced in 1858 and free mail delivery in 1863 under Postmaster General Montgomery Blair. The Pony Express began mail service between Saint Joseph, Missouri, and San Francisco in 1860. The money order system was put into operation in 1864, and rural free delivery service was established in 1896. The parcel post system came into operation in the U.S. in 1913. The first regular service for airmail was established between New York City and Washington, D.C., in 1918. The Postal Savings System, established by Congress in 1911, was terminated in 1966.

From 1829 to 1971, the appointment as U.S. postmaster general carried with it a position in the president's cabinet. The postmaster general makes postal agreements with foreign governments, awards and executes contracts, and directs the foreign mail service.

The postal system, formerly known as the Post Office Department, was reorganized as the U.S. Postal Service under the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which became effective in July 1971.

The changes in the postal system stemmed from four basic provisions of the Postal Reorganization Act: elimination of politics from postal management; adequate financing authority; establishment of a postal career service, allowing collective bargaining between management and employees; and creation of an independent commission for setting of postal rates.

The Postal Service is directed by an 11-member board of governors, nine of whom are appointed by the president on a bipartisan basis with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. The nine governors appoint a tenth to be postmaster general; they then appoint a deputy postmaster general. The independent Postal Rate Commission has five members, appointed by the president.

In 1963, the ZIP (Zoning Improvement Program) code system was introduced to simplify the patterns and procedures of mail distribution. The ZIP code is a five-digit number used on the last line of the address following the name of the city and state. The first digit, from zero to nine, stands for one of the ten main geographical areas into which the United States and its possessions are divided; each area includes three or more states or possessions. The next four digits delimit localities further by subdividing the main area; the first three digits together represent a sectional or metropolitan area, with the next two numbers specifying an associated or branch post office. In October 1983, the Postal Service began using an expanded ZIP code system of nine numbers, consisting of the five-digit code plus four additional digits, which specifies an individual delivery route. Use of ZIP codes is voluntary; however, reduced postage rates are offered to large-volume mailers employing the expanded nine-digit code.