Different societies have also devised systems for transporting messages from place to place and from person to person. The earliest were courier-type services; messengers carried memorized or written messages from one person to another, and returned with the reply. The Persian and Roman empires and some Asian societies sent couriers regularly along planned routes to retrieve reliable and timely information about trade and military affairs from distant areas.
In Europe, similar systems were established by commercial concerns and merchants who needed to exchange information about trade routes and goods. The ruling aristocracy used trusted messengers to carry confidential or sensitive information from capital to capital or kingdom to kingdom, but they were typically soldiers or servants. Over time, these arrangements evolved into government-operated systems for any citizen or subject to post messages to any other, financed by charging users a tax or fee for postage (verified by postage stamps).
In the United States, the postal service was established by the government in 1789, and the postmaster general's office was created to supervise the mail service. The first postmaster general of the United States was Samuel Osgood. In the late 19th century, as the United States expanded its territory west beyond reliable roads or rail lines, the U.S. Post Office started the Pony Express, reviving courier-style services in the new territories. Pony Express riders carried sacks of mail through rugged and remote territory, relaying their loads from one rider to the next. The Pony Express quickly became renowned for its speed of delivery.
Over time, the U.S. Post Office took advantage of new transportation systems. Huge volumes of mail were sent across the country on trains, and the Post Office started its own postal security force to prevent the mail from being stolen in railroad holdups. They were also the first postal service to hire pilots to fly mail to distant or rural locations within the United States and overseas. By the 1930s every small town and rural route had carrier service; in many places, deliveries were made twice a day. As demand for postal services grew, the U.S. Post Office developed systems for coding and sorting the mail more quickly, notably the neighborhood ZIP Code system in the 1960s.
The U.S. Post Office became a private operation in the 1970s under the supervision of the U.S. federal government, and was renamed the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Today the USPS is self-supporting, and is exploring a number of new technologies that will allow it to offer better service at lower cost, including electronic document delivery services and new electronic sorting systems.
In Europe, similar systems were established by commercial concerns and merchants who needed to exchange information about trade routes and goods. The ruling aristocracy used trusted messengers to carry confidential or sensitive information from capital to capital or kingdom to kingdom, but they were typically soldiers or servants. Over time, these arrangements evolved into government-operated systems for any citizen or subject to post messages to any other, financed by charging users a tax or fee for postage (verified by postage stamps).
In the United States, the postal service was established by the government in 1789, and the postmaster general's office was created to supervise the mail service. The first postmaster general of the United States was Samuel Osgood. In the late 19th century, as the United States expanded its territory west beyond reliable roads or rail lines, the U.S. Post Office started the Pony Express, reviving courier-style services in the new territories. Pony Express riders carried sacks of mail through rugged and remote territory, relaying their loads from one rider to the next. The Pony Express quickly became renowned for its speed of delivery.
Over time, the U.S. Post Office took advantage of new transportation systems. Huge volumes of mail were sent across the country on trains, and the Post Office started its own postal security force to prevent the mail from being stolen in railroad holdups. They were also the first postal service to hire pilots to fly mail to distant or rural locations within the United States and overseas. By the 1930s every small town and rural route had carrier service; in many places, deliveries were made twice a day. As demand for postal services grew, the U.S. Post Office developed systems for coding and sorting the mail more quickly, notably the neighborhood ZIP Code system in the 1960s.
The U.S. Post Office became a private operation in the 1970s under the supervision of the U.S. federal government, and was renamed the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Today the USPS is self-supporting, and is exploring a number of new technologies that will allow it to offer better service at lower cost, including electronic document delivery services and new electronic sorting systems.
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