Editing Post office

{{Short description|Customer service facility of a postal system}}
{{Redirect|Posting house||Post House (disambiguation)}}
{{for-multi|national postal networks, sometimes called "the Post Office"|Mail|other uses|Post Office (disambiguation)}}
[[File:EdithburghPostOffice.JPG|thumb|A post office building in [[Edithburgh]], Australia]]
[[File:West Toledo Branch Post Office - DPLA - f9d1fcc75d881e6c52ad57b947479502 (page 1).jpg|alt=West Toledo Branch Post Office, Toledo, Ohio, 1912|thumb|The West Toledo Branch Post Office in [[Toledo, Ohio]], in 1912]]
A '''post office''' is a public facility and a retailer that provides [[mail]] services, such as accepting [[letter (message)|letters]] and [[parcel (package)|parcels]], providing [[post office box]]es, and selling [[postage stamp]]s, packaging, and [[stationery]]. Post offices may offer additional services, which vary by country. These include providing and accepting [[government]] forms (such as [[passport]] applications), and processing [[government]] services and fees (such as [[road tax]], [[Postal savings system|postal savings]], or [[bank]] fees).<ref>{{cite web |title=Canada Postal Guide - Glossary |publisher=[[Canada Post]] |access-date = 2006-10-08 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060118015645/http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/i01-e.asp?letter=P |url=http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/i01-e.asp?letter=P |archive-date=January 18, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[chief administrator]] of a post office is called a [[postmaster]]. During the 19th century, when the postal deliveries were made, it would often be delivered to public places. For example, it would be sent to bars and/or general store. This would often be delivered with newspapers and those who were expecting a post would go into town to pick up the mail, along with anything that was needed to be picked up in town.

Before the advent of [[postal code]]s and the post office, postal systems would route items to a specific post office for [[receipt]] or delivery. During the 19th century in the [[United States]], this often led to smaller communities being renamed after their post offices, particularly after the [[United States Post Office Department|Post Office Department]] began to require that post office names not be duplicated within a [[list of U.S. states|state]].<ref>[[United States Postal Service]]. "[http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/post-office-names.pdf What's in a (Post Office) Name?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330073338/http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/post-office-names.pdf |date=2013-03-30 }}" August 2008. Accessed 2 October 2013.</ref>

==Name==
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Microcosm of London Plate 063 - The Post Office.jpg
| width1 = 250
| alt1 = Post office
| caption1 = The old [[General Post Office]] on [[Lombard Street, London]], in 1803
| image2 = Postal facility interior.JPG
| width2 = 250
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = A [[Canada|Canadian]] sorting office in 2006
| footer = 
| direction = 
| total_width = 
}}

The term "post-office"<ref>Webster, Noah. ''American Dictionary of the English Language'', "[http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/post-house post-house] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212954/http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/post-house |date=2013-10-04 }}". Accessed 2 October 2013.</ref> has been in use since the 1650s,<ref>Harper, Douglas. ''Online Etymology Dictionary'', "[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=post+office post office] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215722/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=post+office |date=2013-10-04 }}". 2013. Accessed 2 October 2013.</ref> shortly after the legislation of private mail services in [[England]] in 1635.<ref>The British Postal Museum and Archive. "[http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/page/peoplespost-secretroom The Secret Room] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831192736/http://postalheritage.org.uk/page/peoplespost-secretroom|date=2012-08-31}}". 2011. Accessed 2 October 2013.</ref> In [[early modern#Europe|early modern]] England, [[post riders]]—[[mail delivery by animal#horses|mounted couriers]]—were placed, or "posted",<ref>Harper (2013), "[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=post post] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930024127/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=post |date=2013-09-30 }}". Accessed 2 October 2013.</ref> every few hours along [[post road]]s at [[posting houses]] (also known as post houses) between major cities, or "[[post town]]s". These [[stable]]s or [[coaching inn|inn]]s permitted important correspondence to travel without delay. In early America, post offices were also known as stations. This term, as well as the term "post house", fell from use as horse and [[mail coach|coach]] services were replaced by [[railway post office|railways]], [[airmail|aircraft]], and [[mail truck|automobiles]].
[[File:Surathkal Post Office,India.jpg|thumb|The Surathkal Post Office in [[Surathkal]], India]]

The term "post office" usually refers to government postal facilities providing customer service. "[[General Post Office (disambiguation)|General Post Office]]" is sometimes used for the national headquarters of a postal service, even if the building does not provide customer service. A postal facility that is used exclusively for processing mail is instead known as a sorting office or delivery office, which may have a large central area known as a sorting or postal hall. Integrated facilities combining mail processing with railway stations or airports are known as mail exchanges.

In [[India]], post offices are found in almost every village having [[Panchayati raj in India|panchayat]] (a "village council"), towns, cities, and throughout the geographical area of India. India's postal system changed its name to [[India Post]] after the advent of private courier companies in the 1990s. It is run by the Indian government's Department of Posts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiapost.gov.in/VAS/Pages/AboutUs/AboutUs.aspx\|title= About Us|access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref> India Post accepts and delivers inland letters, postcards, parcels, postal stamps, and money orders (money transfers). Few post offices in India offer speed post (fast delivery) and payments or bank savings services. It is also uncommon for Indian post offices to sell insurance policies or accept payment for electricity, landline telephone, or gas bills. Until the 2000 A.D., post offices would collect fees for radio licenses, recruitment for government jobs, and the operation of public call telephone (PCO) booths. [[Postman|Postmen]] would deliver letters, money orders, and parcels to places that are within the assigned area of a particular post office. Each Indian post office is assigned a unique six-digit code called the [[Postal Index Number]], or PIN. Each post office is identified by its PIN. Post offices coming under Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication, Government of India have a history of one hundred fifty years.<ref>{{ cite web|url=https://www.indiapost.gov.in/VAS/Pages/AboutUs/AboutUs.aspx|title=About us|author=India Post|access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref>

Private [[courier]] and [[Package delivery|delivery services]] often have offices as well, although these are usually not called "post offices", except in the case of [[Germany]], which has [[Deutsche Post|fully privatised its national postal system]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2020|reason=presumably this refers to German-language equivalent term, but it's not clear}}

As abbreviation ''PO'' is used, together with ''GPO'' for General Post Office and ''LPO'' for Licensed Post Office.

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2015}}
[[File:World's_oldest_postcard.jpg|thumb|Postal clerks in an 1840 [[Penny Penates]] postcard]]
[[File:Tallinn post office.jpg|thumb|The Old Post Office in [[Toompea]] in [[Tallinn]], Estonia]]
There is evidence of corps of royal [[courier]]s disseminating the decrees of [[ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] [[list of pharaohs|pharaohs]] as early as 2400{{Spaces}}BCE, and it is possible that the service greatly precedes that date. Similarly, there may be ancient organised systems of post houses providing mounted courier service, although sources vary as to precisely who initiated the practice.<ref>[[Xenophon]] credits [[Cyrus the Great]] of [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]], others credit his successor [[Darius I of Persia|Darius I]] or the earlier [[Babylonian Empire|Babylonian]] [[List of Babylonian kings|king]] [[Hammurabi]] or the [[Assyrian Empire|Assyrian]] [[List of kings of Assyria|king]] [[Sargon II of Assyria|Sargon II]].</ref>

In the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]], a [[Chapar Khaneh]] system existed along the [[Royal Road]]. Similar postage systems were established in [[Ancient India|India]] and [[Ancient China|China]] by the [[Mauryan dynasty|Mauryan]] and [[Han dynasty|Han]] dynasties in the 2nd century BCE.

The [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[historian]] [[Suetonius]] credited [[Augustus]] with regularizing the Roman transportation and courier network, the ''[[cursus publicus|Cursus Publicus]]''. Local officials were obliged to provide couriers who would be responsible for their message's entire course. Locally maintained post houses ({{langx|la|{{linktext|stationes}}}}) privately owned rest houses ({{langx|la|{{linktext|mansiones}}}}) and were obliged or honored to care for couriers along their way. The Roman emperor [[Diocletian]] later established two parallel systems: one providing fresh horses or mules for urgent correspondence and the other providing sturdy oxen for bulk shipments. The [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] historian [[Procopius]], though not unbiased, records the ''Cursus Publicus'' system remained largely intact until it was dismantled in the Byzantine empire by the emperor [[Justinian I|Justinian]] in the 6th century.

The [[Princely House of Thurn and Taxis]] family initiated regular mail service from [[Brussels]] in the [[16th century]], directing the [[Imperial Reichspost|Imperial Post]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The [[British Postal Museum]] claims that the oldest functioning post office in the world is on High Street in [[Sanquhar]], [[Scotland]]. The post office has functioned continuously since 1712, during which horses and stagecoaches were used to carry mail.

Rural parts of Canada in the 19th century utilized the way office system. Villagers could leave their letters at the way office which were then taken to the nearest post office, as well as pick up their mail from the way office.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Chronology of Canadian Postal History |url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/ch1867be.html |website=Canadian Museum of History}}</ref>

In parts of Europe, special [[postal censorship]] offices existed{{when|date=December 2017}} to intercept and censor mail. In France, such offices were known as [[Cabinet noir|cabinets noirs]].

==Unstaffed postal facilities==
[[File:Mailroom in University.jpg|thumb|Students attend an unstaffed postal facility]]
[[File:GPO - The Inland letter office ILN 1844.jpg|thumb|The Inland Letter Office of the [[General Post Office, London|GPO]] in London in 1844]]
In many jurisdictions, [[Post box|mailboxes]] and [[post office box]]es have long been in widespread use for drop-off and pickup (respectively) of mail and small packages outside post offices or when offices are closed. Germany's national postage system [[Deutsche Post]] introduced the [[Packstation|Pack-Station]] for [[package delivery]], including both drop-off and pickup, in 2001.  In the 2000s, the [[United States Postal Service]] began to install Automated Postal Centers (APCs) in many locations in both post offices, for when they are closed or busy, and retail locations.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.unionleader.com/article/20111212/NEWS02/712129997 |title=Derry store's postal kiosk a 1st in New England |work=[[New Hampshire Union Leader|Union Leader]] |date=December 11, 2011}}</ref>  APCs can print postage and accept mail and small packages.

==Notable post offices==
===Operational===
*[[General Post Office]], state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969
* [[General Post Office, Dublin|General Post Office]] in [[Dublin]] (inaugurated 1818), headquarters of the [[An Post|Irish post]] and headquarters of the 1916 [[Easter Uprising]]
* [[General Post Office, Kolkata|General Post Office]] (1864), erected on the site of the [[Black Hole of Calcutta]]
* [[General Post Office, Chennai|General Post Office]] (1874) in [[Chennai]], India
* [[General Post Office, Lahore|General Post Office]] (1887) in [[Lahore]], [[Pakistan]]
* [[General Post Office, Colombo|General Post Office]] (1895), the headquarters of the [[Sri Lankan Post]]
* [[General Post Office, Zagreb|General Post Office]] (1903), headquarters of the [[Croatia]]n post
* [[General Post Office, Hong Kong|General Post Office]] (1976), the headquarters of [[Hongkong Post]]
* [[General Post Office (Mumbai)|General Post Office]] (1913), the main post office of [[Mumbai]], India, and one of the world's largest (120,000 sq&nbsp;ft or 11,000 m<sup>2</sup>)
* [[General Post Office Building, Shanghai|General Post Office Building]] (1922), former headquarters of the [[Chunghwa Post]] and present home of the Shanghai Postal Museum
* [[Central Post Office (Ottawa)|Central Post Office]] (1939), also temporary home to the [[Privy Council of Canada]]
* [[Manila Central Post Office]] (1926, rebuilt after [[World War II in the Philippines|WWII]])
* [[James Farley Post Office]] (1912), America's largest operating post office, the main office for New York City. Bears the famous translation of [[United States Postal Service creed|Herodotus]]'s description of the Persian postal system along its front facade: ''[[United States Postal Service creed|"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"]]''
* The [[Edificio Correos|Edificio Central de Correos y Telégrafos building]] (1917), San José, Costa Rica. Contains the Costa Rican Philatelic Museum on the second floor
* [[Polish Post Office (Danzig)|Polish Post Office]], a scene of [[Defense of the Polish Post Office in Danzig|intense fighting]] during the 1939 [[Nazi Germany]] invasion of [[Free City of Danzig|Danzig]]
* [[Taipei Post Office]] (1928), the headquarters of [[Taiwan Post]]
* [[First Toronto Post Office]] (1833)
* [[Istanbul Main Post Office]] (1905), home of the [[Istanbul Postal Museum]]

===Former===
* [[Bandinelli Palace]] (1589), a former post office in [[Lviv]] in [[Ukraine]]
*[[General Post Office (Washington, D.C.)|General Post Office]] (1842), [[Washington, D.C.]]'s first all-marble building, patterned after Rome's [[Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus|Temple of Jupiter]] and now the [[Hotel Monaco (Washington, D.C.)|Hotel Monaco]], a four-star hotel
* [[Chief Post Office, Christchurch|Chief Post Office]] (1877), the former chief post office of [[New Zealand]] in [[Christchurch]]
* [[Central Post Office Building (Stockholm)|Central Post Office Building]] (1903), home of the [[Government of Sweden]]
* [[Buenos Aires Central Post Office]] (1908), now the Bicentennial Cultural Center
* [[The Fullerton Hotel Singapore|The Fullerton]] (1919), a 5-star hotel in Singapore
* [[Magna Plaza]], a shopping center at Amsterdam
* [[Old Chicago Main Post Office|Old Main Post Office]] (1921), an enormous abandoned structure in Chicago
* ''[[Palazzo delle Poste, Naples|Palazzo Delle Poste]]'' (1928), the former post office of [[Naples]], [[Italy]], heavily damaged during [[Four days of Naples|Naples' 1943 uprising against the Nazis]]
* [[Utrecht Post Office]], since 2020 a large public library at [[Utrecht]], [[Netherlands]]

===Historic===
* The [[General Post Office East]] (1825), former headquarters of the [[General Post Office|GPO]] in London, demolished in 1912
* John, Richard R. ''Private Enterprise, Public Good?'' University Of Carolina, 1839-1851.

==See also==
{{Portal|Philately}}
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
*[[Postage stamp]]
*[[Dak bungalow]]s, the former posthouses of the British Raj
*[[Freepost]] (also known as ''Business Reply Mail'')
*"[[Going postal]]"
*[[Mail]]
*[[Military mail]]
*[[Old Post Office (disambiguation)#United States|Old U.S. Post Offices]]
*[[Penny Post]]
*[[Post office box]]
*[[Postal administration]]
*[[Postal code]], [[ZIP code]]
*[[History of United States postage rates]]
*[[Poste restante]] (also known as General Delivery)
*[[Universal Postal Union]]
*[[Wanted poster]] (Post Office Wall)
*[[Missing Post Office]]
*[[John, Richard R. Private Enterprise, Public Good? University Of Carolina, 1839-1851.]]{{col div end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Post offices}}
{{NIE Poster|Post-Office}}
* [http://www.postmarks.org/photos/ Photos of post offices around the world]
* [http://www.upu.int Universal Postal Union]

{{Postal system}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Post Office}}
[[Category:Post office buildings| ]]