From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Post office
Post office
A post office in Oxford, England, UK
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal sys- A post office in Hanga Roa, Easter Island, Chile
tem for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmis-
sion or delivery of mail.[1] Post Office Rifles were sometimes sent from post offices
Post offices offer mail-related services such as post into battle to deliver messages[citation needed].
office boxes, postage and packaging supplies. In addition, After 1900, dedicated mail exchange facilities became
some post offices offer non-postal services such as pass- common and postal services colocated customer services
port applications and other government forms, car tax with businesses such as newsagents or railway stations
purchase, money orders, and banking services. for the convenience of customers and to cut costs. As
a result, many purpose-built post offices became redun-
dant and either fell into disuse or were adaptively reused;
sometimes retaining the title of Post Office prefixed by
Old or Former for historical and heritage reasons.
See also
Automatic sorters inside a major postal facility
A post office may have a main customer service and
point of sale area and many offices were directly assigned
to Postal code, ZIP code.
In a "sorting office" or "delivery office", mail is sorted A village post office at Shere, England
or processed for delivery. Large open spaces for sorting
mail are also sometimes known as a sorting hall or postal • Drop Letter
hall.
hall Over time, sophisticated mail sorting and delivery • Postage stamp
equipment has been developed, including Mail Rail. • Freepost (also known as Business Reply Mail)
In Commonwealth countries, many of the larger post • Going postal
office buildings in capital cities used the official title of • Mail
General Post Office. In parts of Europe, special Postal cen- • Military mail
sorship offices were known as Cabinets Noirs. In wartime, • Penny Post
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Post office
• Post office box http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/
• Postal administration i01-e.asp?letter=P. Retrieved 2006-10-08.
• Postal code, ZIP code
•
•
History of United States postage rates
Poste restante (also known as General Delivery)
External links
• Universal Postal Union • GRC Database Information: worldwide post office
• Wanted poster (Post Office Wall) website links
• Photos of post offices around the world
• Royalmailchat
References • The British Postal Museum & Archive
[1] "Canada Postal Guide - Glossary". Canada Post. • United Kingdom Post Office site
Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. • United States Postal Service
http://web.archive.org/web/20070825151703/ • Universal Postal Union
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Post_office&oldid=460103636"
Categories:
• Postal system
• Post office buildings
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