Apparently just before going with zip codes, the US postal service tried out a zone code. This was a flier that was found in with a relatives pay check stub from the US government in the mid 1950's

Here's the history of zone/zip codes:

The United States Post Office Department (USPOD) implemented postal zones for large cities in 1943. For example:

Mr. John Smith

3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue

Minneapolis 16, Minnesota

The "16" is the number of the postal zone within the city.

By the early 1960s a more general system was needed, and on July 1, 1963, non-mandatory ZIP codes were announced for the whole country. Robert Moon, an employee of the post office, is considered the father of the ZIP code. He submitted his proposal in 1944 while working as a postal inspector.

The post office only gives credit to Moon for the first three digits of the ZIP code, which describe the sectional center facility, or SCF, also called "sec center." An SCF is a central mail processing facility with those 3 digits. The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first 3 digits in their ZIP codes. The mail is sorted according to the final 2 digits of the ZIP code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public (though the building may include a post office open to the public), and most of the workers are employed during the overnight. Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. In the cases of large cities, the last two digits coincided with the older postal zone number, thus:

Mr. John Smith

3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55416

In 1967, these were made mandatory for second- and third-class bulk mailers, and the system was soon adopted generally. The United States Post Office used a cartoon character, Mr. ZIP, to promote use of the ZIP code. He was often depicted with a legend such as "USE ZIP CODES" in the selvage of panes of stamps or on labels contained in, or the covers of, booklet panes of stamps. Curiously enough, the only time the Postal Service issued a stamp promoting the ZIP code, in 1974, Mr. ZIP was not depicted.

ZIP + 4

In 1983, the U.S. Postal Service began using an expanded ZIP code system called "ZIP + 4", often called "plus-four codes" or "add-on codes" or "add ons." The Postal Service has a "Find a ZIP Code" feature on its website, which provides an address format that is most compatible with its optical character recognition (OCR), scanners:

A ZIP + 4 code uses the basic five-digit code plus four additional digits to identify a geographic segment within the five-digit delivery area, such as a city block, a group of apartments, an individual high-volume receiver of mail or any other unit that could use an extra identifier to aid in efficient mail sorting and delivery. Initial attempts to promote universal use of the new format met with public resistance, and today the plus-four code is not required. In general, mail is read by a multiline optical character reader (MLOCR) that almost instantly determines the correct ZIP + 4 code from the address and—along with the even more specific delivery point—sprays a Postnet barcode on the face of the mailpiece that corresponds to 11 digits. This technology has greatly increased the speed and accuracy of mail delivery and kept costs nearly constant for over a decade[citation needed].

For post-office boxes, the general (but not invariable) rule is that each box has its own ZIP + 4 code. The add-on code is often one of the following: the last four digits of the box number (e.g., PO Box 58001, Washington DC 20037-8001), zero plus the last three digits of the box number (e.g., PO Box 12344, Chicago IL 60612-0344), or, if the box number consists of fewer than four digits, enough zeros prepended to the front of the box number to produce a four-digit number (e.g., PO Box 52, Garrett Park MD 20896-0052). However, there is no uniform rule, so the ZIP + 4 code must be looked up individually for each box.

It is common to use add-on code 9998 for mail addressed to the postmaster (to which requests for pictorial cancellations are usually addressed), 9999 for general delivery and other high-numbered add-on codes for business reply mail. For a unique ZIP code (explained below), the add-on code is typically 0001.

Apparently just before going with zip codes, the US postal service tried out a zone code. This was a flier that was found in with a relatives pay check stub from the US government in the mid 1950's

Here's the history of zone/zip codes:

The United States Post Office Department (USPOD) implemented postal zones for large cities in 1943. For example:

Mr. John Smith

3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue

Minneapolis 16, Minnesota

The "16" is the number of the postal zone within the city.

By the early 1960s a more general system was needed, and on July 1, 1963, non-mandatory ZIP codes were announced for the whole country. Robert Moon, an employee of the post office, is considered the father of the ZIP code. He submitted his proposal in 1944 while working as a postal inspector.

The post office only gives credit to Moon for the first three digits of the ZIP code, which describe the sectional center facility, or SCF, also called "sec center." An SCF is a central mail processing facility with those 3 digits. The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first 3 digits in their ZIP codes. The mail is sorted according to the final 2 digits of the ZIP code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public (though the building may include a post office open to the public), and most of the workers are employed during the overnight. Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. In the cases of large cities, the last two digits coincided with the older postal zone number, thus:

Mr. John Smith

3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55416

In 1967, these were made mandatory for second- and third-class bulk mailers, and the system was soon adopted generally. The United States Post Office used a cartoon character, Mr. ZIP, to promote use of the ZIP code. He was often depicted with a legend such as "USE ZIP CODES" in the selvage of panes of stamps or on labels contained in, or the covers of, booklet panes of stamps. Curiously enough, the only time the Postal Service issued a stamp promoting the ZIP code, in 1974, Mr. ZIP was not depicted.

ZIP + 4

In 1983, the U.S. Postal Service began using an expanded ZIP code system called "ZIP + 4", often called "plus-four codes" or "add-on codes" or "add ons." The Postal Service has a "Find a ZIP Code" feature on its website, which provides an address format that is most compatible with its optical character recognition (OCR), scanners:

A ZIP + 4 code uses the basic five-digit code plus four additional digits to identify a geographic segment within the five-digit delivery area, such as a city block, a group of apartments, an individual high-volume receiver of mail or any other unit that could use an extra identifier to aid in efficient mail sorting and delivery. Initial attempts to promote universal use of the new format met with public resistance, and today the plus-four code is not required. In general, mail is read by a multiline optical character reader (MLOCR) that almost instantly determines the correct ZIP + 4 code from the address and—along with the even more specific delivery point—sprays a Postnet barcode on the face of the mailpiece that corresponds to 11 digits. This technology has greatly increased the speed and accuracy of mail delivery and kept costs nearly constant for over a decade[citation needed].

For post-office boxes, the general (but not invariable) rule is that each box has its own ZIP + 4 code. The add-on code is often one of the following: the last four digits of the box number (e.g., PO Box 58001, Washington DC 20037-8001), zero plus the last three digits of the box number (e.g., PO Box 12344, Chicago IL 60612-0344), or, if the box number consists of fewer than four digits, enough zeros prepended to the front of the box number to produce a four-digit number (e.g., PO Box 52, Garrett Park MD 20896-0052). However, there is no uniform rule, so the ZIP + 4 code must be looked up individually for each box.

It is common to use add-on code 9998 for mail addressed to the postmaster (to which requests for pictorial cancellations are usually addressed), 9999 for general delivery and other high-numbered add-on codes for business reply mail. For a unique ZIP code (explained below), the add-on code is typically 0001.

Manual data entry and OCR are costing you time and money. There’s a better way to get where you want to go, no matter what type of content you have. Take the ROI ride of a lifetime with Infrrd. #intelligentautomation #mlocr #intelligentdocumentprocessing

Manual data entry and OCR are costing you time and money. There’s a better way to get where you want to go, no matter what type of content you have. Take the ROI ride of a lifetime with Infrrd. #intelligentautomation #mlocr #intelligentdocumentprocessing #processimprovement

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