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Is our mail out of sorts?

Mail takes a several-hundred mile journey, just to get to the place next door
Durango Herald illustration

When Benjamin Franklin became the country’s first postmaster general in 1775, post riders could take days to carry letters and intelligence reports to military outposts, the most common destinations.

In 2013, U.S. Postal Service workers handled 158.3 billion pieces of mail. As electronic communications grew, the amount of snail-mail handling has dropped steadily from 2006 when it peaked at 213.1 billion pieces.

Today, first-class mail dropped in a mailbox by collection time in Durango is sent in the afternoon by truck to Albuquerque – a distance of 215 miles – where it’s sorted and returned to Durango overnight for delivery the next day.

This began in 2013 after the Postal Service closed the mail processing center in Durango because the volume of mail was too low to justify keeping it open.

It may seem illogical that mail sent from south La Plata County venues such as Ignacio, Tiffany and Arboles goes north to Denver for sorting, while mail from north Montezuma County communities such as Dolores and Dove Creek goes south to Albuquerque.

Also, Silverton, which is linked by more than a train to Durango and other towns to the south, is bunched with entities in the opposite direction when it comes to sorting mail.

The routing plans are based on transportation networks.

Dale Rodebaugh

A history of the U.S. Postal Service

1775: Postal service was established, and Benjamin Franklin was named the first postmaster general.

1847: The first postage stamps were issued.

1853: Stamped envelopes were issued.

1860: The Pony Express was established.

1873: The first postcards entered circulation.

1918: Scheduled airmail service began.

1963: The ZIP code system was created.

1971: The government-managed Post Office Department was phased out and the independent agency of the government, the U.S. Postal Service took over.



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