Friendly rural mailboxes becoming a thing of the past

By Linda Bell
Correspondent

The wintry classic card scene of a peaceful rural mailbox overflowing with cards and packages might soon become a nostalgic icon of the 20th century as their vulnerability triggers more temptation and tampering and as snowplows routinely smash them.

The 21st century's boxy replacement is just not a painterly subject.

Rural postmasters say both their carriers and the mail are safer with cluster pedestal boxes where carriers can "dismount" (Postal Service lingo) safely and deliver mail to many patrons at once into safely locked slot boxes or locked parcel boxes. Developers are required to install cluster boxes near main roads in any new subdivisions.

Juanita Mroczko, postmaster in Livermore, said two cluster pedestals on her routes, one on Cherokee Park Road and another on Red Mountain Road, were purchased and installed by communities tired of having their boxes busted. She said residents took responsibility for finding and maintaining the site, installing and cementing in the boxes, and paying for them. Cluster pedestals that accommodate about 16 addresses cost upwards of $1,600.

Mroczko said it is definitely a safer way to get personal mail, especially in the mountains, and saves the carriers a lot of time and gas. It is also safer, she said, considering some of her carriers have to stop at boxes right along Highway 287 with cars whizzing by at 65 miles an hour and more.

Occasionally, Mroczko said, the post office will install pedestals in areas where residents are having obvious problems with vandalism and theft, as was the case for the rank of conventional mailboxes along Cherokee Park Road serving patrons on County Road 82E.

Marie Sands, postmaster at Red Feather Lakes, said running a route with widely displaced mailboxes helps drive postage rates up. She said current regulations state that individual mailboxes more than a half mile beyond a main road aren't eligible for service, and people at those addresses must either collect their mail at the post office or at a central pick-up point.

Greg Niswender, who lives on Red Feather Lakes Road, said they were worried about identity theft issues and took down their conventional rural mailbox and took out a box at the Red Feather Lakes Post Office instead. Many people note they don't leave checks out for pick up from their boxes anymore.

When Vivian Gilbert's rural box was damaged last year by snowplows along Red Feather Lakes Road, she replaced it with a heavy-duty locking box with a slot for incoming mail and an open area with a clip for outgoing mail. She said it makes her feel a lot more secure when they travel and their mail collects for a few days. Gilbert said they never had trouble with mail, but their newspapers routinely used to disappear in the early morning hours.

For the Rural Free Delivery service, it seems problems have come full circle. Initially when the service began in 1896, people were reluctant to install mailboxes, as they were often a target for local marksmen and vandals.

With time, the rural communities got to know their carriers so well that Postal Order No. 569 was issued by the Postmaster General in 1904 "prohibiting mail carriers from accepting gifts or presents, sell souvenirs, favor any business establishment or individual, carrying passengers, or enjoying an alcoholic drink with any of their patrons while on the job."

With the advent of parcel postal service in 1913, the service blossomed as rural residents could get distant newspapers, magazines and the Sears catalog for ordering material goods right to their door. Roads were kept open specifically to allow the mail to get through, which provided rural areas with much more mobility in winter.

Chances are county and state highway crews will continue to keep rural roads open, with or without changes in the postal system, but it might be best to save those scenic winter cards as a reminder of days when overflowing mail boxes were a safe bet.