While you might think the post office is just stamps & long lines, there’s actually so much more to the U.S. Postal Service than you might realize. They’ve done some truly bizarre stuff over the years—including things you’d never expect from a government agency, let alone one that mostly delivers birthday cards and bills. Here are eleven weird USPS facts that go way beyond your average envelope. You’ll never look at deliveries in the same way again.
Featured Image Credit: pikselstock /Depositphotos.com.
They Once Mailed a Bank
Instead of paying a fortune to haul bricks for a new bank in Utah, one guy in 1916 figured out a cheaper way—he mailed all 80,000 of them. He packed the bricks into hundreds of 50-pound parcels and sent them through USPS, which legally had to deliver them and made multiple trips to deliver the full load. Local workers spent days moving the bricks and the Bank of Vernal still stands today as a historic building.
A Child Was Mailed to Grandma
As crazy as it might sound, in 1914, a couple in Idaho put some stamps on their daughter, Charlotte May Pierstorff, and mailed her to her grandma’s house—she was under the weight limit and it only cost them 53 cents. This wasn’t the only time kids were sent through the mail, as there was no specific law against sending people through the mail, but this situation made national news. It took a few more years for the practice to be outlawed.
There’s a Town Where Mail Arrives by Mule
In Supai, Arizona, mail doesn’t show up in a truck, but by mule instead, because the town sits at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and has no road access. The USPS runs a mule train down the canyon several times a week and it’s the only spot in the country where mail regularly arrives on hooves. The trip down takes around 5 hours, with each mule carrying up to 200 pounds of supplies & letters, and the locals rely on this for every kind of delivery.
One Mail Route Crosses a River
Speaking of odd mail routes, there’s another one in Alabama that’s all water, no road, called the Magnolia route, which involves a USPS worker jumping into a boat every day and floating 30 miles down the river. They have to drop the mail into riverside boxes and it’s the only route like it in the entire country—the carrier hits around 170 stops on the river & has to watch for gators, too. The route’s been running since the 1870s, and locals still wait by the shore for their mailboat to come by.
Postal Workers Used to Wear Revolvers
Mail agents working trains in the 1800s were armed because train robberies were common, so these agents carried revolvers and had permission to use them. The role was officially called “Postal Inspector,” and they were basically law enforcement for letters and packages on the rails. They also traveled in locked mail cars and some of these workers later became famous for how often they stopped attempted robberies.
Mail By Missile
In 1959, the Navy shot a cruise missile packed with over 3,000 letters from a submarine off the coast of Florida—it flew 100 miles and landed right on target. The experiment worked, but that was the first—and last—time mail rode on a missile. The letters were mostly commemorative, sent to government officials and journalists, with the test aiming to prove the speed and power of the missile, rather than being a practical way to send mail.
Dead Letters Get Sent to a Mail Graveyard
When something shows up with no return address, no readable label & zero clues, it’s known as a “dead letter” and it goes to the Mail Recovery Center in Atlanta. This place is essentially where mail goes to disappear and staff sort through everything, like wedding rings and legal papers, to try to piece together where it all belongs. If they’re unable to do so, the staff trash the items or auction them off, and they handle millions of lost items a year—most of the stuff never finds its way back.
It’s a Federal Crime to Destroy a Mailbox
Messing with a mailbox is no joke and you don’t even have to steal anything—just damaging a box or slipping in something suspicious is enough to get charged. It’s a federal offense that may come with a fine up to $250,000 or time in prison and even opening someone’s mailbox without permission is technically a crime. The rule applies to those curbside boxes & cluster boxes as well because USPS takes mailboxes quite seriously.
The Longest Postal Route
There’s a mail carrier in Mangum, Oklahoma, who drives a 190-mile route every day—one way—and it’s the longest route in the country, taking nearly 10 hours to finish. It’s mostly rural, so the driver rarely sees anyone, just lots of dirt roads and mailboxes, as they deliver mail to remote homes across western Oklahoma. The carrier sticks to the route five days a week and it takes mail delivery to a whole different scale.
One ZIP Code Belongs to the CIA
The CIA has its own private ZIP code, 20505, which is assigned specifically to their headquarters in Langley, Virginia, although you won’t find it listed like a regular address. Any random packages aren’t making it past security because the place handles its own mail screening before anything ever reaches an office inside. Only approved mail makes it through, and even then, it goes through layers of checks to make sure it’s legit.
They Once Tried Mailing Beer
Back in 2013, the USPS thought about allowing breweries and wineries to send alcohol by mail, just like they do with UPS or FedEx—but a federal law from the Prohibition era still blocks USPS from handling alcohol. As such, it’s still not allowed, despite lawmakers introducing bills to change it, but nothing has passed. Until the rules change, beer has to hitch a ride with someone else.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
Like our content? Be sure to follow us on MSN.
