A discontinued post office or DPO is an American postal term for a post office which is no longer in service or is in service under another name.[1][2] Some are in ghost towns, some victims of consolidation of mail service as small post offices are closed or a city expands. The introduction of Rural Free Delivery, RFD, in 1902 led to the closure of many post offices, which peaked in 1901 at 76,945. In the United States, which was mostly rural, mail previously had been picked up in rural areas at small local post offices, home delivery being limited to urban areas until experimentation with rural delivery began in 1890.[3]
↑ Historian United States Postal Service (May 2007). "Rural Free Delivery"(PDF). United States Postal Service. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 9, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2011. The increase in the number of rural delivery routes led to a decrease in the number of small Post Offices. In 1901, the Post Office Department operated the largest number of Post Offices in American history, 76,945. The next year, there were 1,000 fewer Post Offices. Despite a growing population and more mail, the number of Post Offices continued to drop each subsequent year, with the exception of 1947 and 2001.
↑ Harlan, George (1976). Postmarks and Places. Denver: Golden Bell Press.
Further reading
Examples of references from the postal history of Colorado:
Bauer, William H.; Ozment, James L.; and Willard, John H., Colorado Post Offices, 1859-1989: A Comprehensive Listing of Post Offices, Stations, and Branches, Colorado Railroad Museum (May 1990), hardcover, 280 pages, ISBN978-0-918654-42-7
Helbock, Richard W., A Checklist of Colorado Post Offices 1858-1988
Jarrett, David L., Colorado Territorial and Pre-Territorial Postmarks, Collector Club of Chicago (January 1, 1976), hardcover
Meschter, Daniel Y., Pre-Territorial Colorado Postal History, La Posta Publications (1994), 91 pages
Segerstrom, Kenneth Colorado Illustrated Covers La Posta Publications (1988), paperback, 100 pages
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