Going to the Post Office is a quotidian, mundane event for most of us. Whether we’re dropping off a birthday present for our Cousin Milly in Florida, or we’re returning some unflattering shorts to Amazon, visiting your local USPS is a simple “blip” in the afternoon and a simple stop by car. However, behind all this mundanity is an infrastructure representing the largest post in the world. The USPS been around for more than 250 years. They call themselves the “first social network,” and for good reason! Many of us are familiar with the stories of the Pony Express and the young riders who would deliver mail from town to town on horseback. You might think of equine mail delivery as a thing of the past, but the USPS actually uses mules to deliver mail even today!
There’s a town at the bottom of the Grand Canyon that cars can’t reach. Your options to reach it are traveling by helicopter, rafting, or hiking. How, then, can such a place receive mail? The United States Postal Service uses a team of ten to twenty mules (carrying 200 pounds worth of materials each!) to reach this remote Native American tribe, the Havasupai, that resides in the Supai village. Much of what the Havasupai people receive in the mail is food and supplies, without which it would be difficult to sustain a community in the Canyon.
The Postal Service truly makes itself available to even the most remote and topographically treacherous parts of the country, reaching the people there however possible, and that is part of what makes it such an extraordinary and necessary service. So next time you step into your local USPS, trust that they’ll go to remarkable lengths to deliver!
Stop by your friendly United States Postal Service Office at Webb Plaza in Suite J. They might not have donkey’s there, but they will surely get your packages sent where they need to be!
Blog written by Elizabeth Pottinger
Hours are:
Thursday 8:30 am – 12:30 pm & 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Friday 8:30 am – 12:30 pm & 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Sunday Closed
Monday 8:30 am – 12:30 pm & 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Tuesday 8:30 am – 12:30 pm & 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Wednesday 8:30 am – 12:30 pm & 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Webb Plaza 
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