Alamosa, Colorado
Alamosa is a city under Home Rule Municipality, the county seat and the most populous municipality of Alamosa County, United States. The city population was 8,780 at the 2010 United States Census; the city is the commercial center of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado, is the home of Adams State University. Alamosa was established in May 1878 by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad and became an important rail center; the railroad had an extensive construction and shipping facility in Alamosa for many years and headquartered its remaining narrow gauge service here with trackage reaching many points throughout southwest Colorado and northern New Mexico. Alamosa is now a notable tourist town with many nearby attractions, including the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve and Colorado Gators Reptile Park; the town hosts "Summer Fest on the Rio" which occurs the first weekend in June, the Early Iron car show over the Labor Day weekend, "Weekends on the Rio" on various Sundays throughout the summer The city takes its name from the Spanish adjective Alamosa, meaning "of cottonwood", for the cottonwood forests which grow along the Rio Grande and throughout town.
Alamosa is located at 37°28′N 105°52′W, at the junction of U. S. Routes 160 and 285. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.5 square miles, of which 5.4 square miles is land and 0.12 square miles, or 2.26%, is water. Alamosa is located along the Rio Grande in the San Luis Valley, in the highest general agricultural land in the United States. Elevation is about 7,500 feet in Alamosa with peaks over 14,000 feet within 23 miles of town in the Sangre de Cristo Range. Alamosa features a cold desert climate with long, cold winters and warm summers, dry weather year-round. Normals range from a low of −4 °F in January to a high of 82 °F in July. Annual precipitation is only 7.25 inches, with summer being the wettest. The aridity depresses mean snowfall to around 32 inches, the median to only 22.3 inches. The altitude and dryness of the air cause day-night temperature differences to be severe year-round. Alamosa's geography and nighttime temperatures account for it being listed as the coldest city in the contiguous United States, with a record average of 227 nights per year with a minimum temperature of 32 °F or less, 48.7 nights with minima below 0 °F.
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,960 people, 2,974 households, 1,769 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,995.0 people per square mile. There were 3,215 housing units at an average density of 805.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 68.53% White, 1.41% Black or African American, 2.20% Native American, 0.95% Asian, 0.26% Pacific Islander, 22.36% from other races, 4.28% from two or more races. 46.80% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 2,974 households out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.5% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 40.5% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.04. In the city, the population was spread out with 24.4% under the age of 18, 21.8% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,453, the median income for a family was $33,017. Males had a median income of $27,100 versus $22,671 for females; the per capita income for the city was $15,405. About 18.1% of families and 25.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.4% of those under age 18 and 17.0% of those age 65 or over. The city of Alamosa is a Home Rule Municipality like many other Colorado towns; the City Council has four elected from wards and two at large. The Council has authority to make and repeal laws and ordinances; the city elects a mayor-at-large on a non-partisan ballot. The current mayor of Alamosa is Ty Coleman. Alamosa Public Schools are part of the Alamosa School District RE-11J, include Alamosa Elementary School, Ortega Middle School, Alamosa High School. Robert Alejo is the Superintendent of Schools.
Adams State University, founded in 1921 as a teacher's college, offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. Graduate level programs emphasize teaching and education, art and business. Many courses are available online. In 2015, the college reached an all-time high enrollment of 3,701 students; the University's location in Alamosa, with an elevation of about 7,800 ft above sea level, attracts many athletes to the school's athletic program. In 2014, ASU added a cycling program. Alamosa is on the Rio Grande River, crossed by two auto bridges, one pedestrian bridge and one rail bridge in town. Auto traffic is served by U. S. Highway 160 running east and west and U. S. Highway 285 and State Highway 17 running north and south. Alamosa is served by the San Rio Grande Railroad; the local airport is San Luis Valley Regional Airport. Alamosa is the shopping center for the San Luis Valley and has a Walmart Supercenter, a Walgreens and two supermarkets and City Market. There are a number of fast food restaurants, two medical clinics, a regional hospital, San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center.
Adams State University is located in Alam
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern region of the United States of America. It is one of the Mountain States and shares the Four Corners region with Utah and Arizona. With a population around two million, New Mexico is the 36th state by population. With a total area of 121,592 sq mi, it is the fifth-largest and sixth-least densely populated of the 50 states. Due to their geographic locations and eastern New Mexico exhibit a colder, alpine climate, while western and southern New Mexico exhibit a warmer, arid climate; the economy of New Mexico is dependent on oil drilling, mineral extraction, dryland farming, cattle ranching, lumber milling, retail trade. As of 2016–2017, its total gross domestic product was $95 billion with a GDP per capita of $45,465. New Mexico's status as a tax haven yields low to moderate personal income taxes on residents and military personnel, gives tax credits and exemptions to favorable industries; because of this, its film industry contributed $1.23 billion to its overall economy.
Due to its large area and economic climate, New Mexico has a large U. S. military presence marked notably with the White Sands Missile Range. Various U. S. national security agencies base their research and testing arms in New Mexico such as the Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. During the 1940s, Project Y of the Manhattan Project developed and built the country's first atomic bomb and nuclear test, Trinity. Inhabited by Native Americans for many thousands of years before European exploration, it was colonized by the Spanish in 1598 as part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1563, it was named Nuevo México after the Aztec Valley of Mexico by Spanish settlers, more than 250 years before the establishment and naming of the present-day country of Mexico. After Mexican independence in 1824, New Mexico became a Mexican territory with considerable autonomy; this autonomy was threatened, however, by the centralizing tendencies of the Mexican government from the 1830s onward, with rising tensions leading to the Revolt of 1837.
At the same time, the region became more economically dependent on the United States. At the conclusion of the Mexican–American War in 1848, the United States annexed New Mexico as the U. S. New Mexico Territory, it was admitted to the Union as the 47th state on January 6, 1912. Its history has given New Mexico the highest percentage of Hispanic and Latino Americans, the second-highest percentage of Native Americans as a population proportion. New Mexico is home to part of the Navajo Nation, 19 federally recognized Pueblo communities of Puebloan peoples, three different federally recognized Apache tribes. In prehistoric times, the area was home to Ancestral Puebloans and the modern extant Comanche and Utes inhabited the state; the largest Hispanic and Latino groups represented include the Hispanos of New Mexico and Mexican Americans. The flag of New Mexico features the state's Spanish origins with the same scarlet and gold coloration as Spain's Cross of Burgundy, along with the ancient sun symbol of the Zia, a Puebloan tribe.
These indigenous, Mexican and American frontier roots are reflected in the eponymous New Mexican cuisine and the New Mexico music genre. New Mexico received its name long before the present-day nation of Mexico won independence from Spain and adopted that name in 1821. Though the name “Mexico” itself derives from Nahuatl, in that language it referred to the heartland of the Empire of the Mexicas in the Valley of Mexico far from the area of New Mexico, Spanish explorers used the term “Mexico” to name the region of New Mexico in 1563. In 1581, the Chamuscado and Rodríguez Expedition named the region north of the Rio Grande "San Felipe del Nuevo México"; the Spaniards had hoped to find wealthy indigenous Mexica cultures there similar to those of the Aztec Empire of the Valley of Mexico. The indigenous cultures of New Mexico, proved to be unrelated to the Mexicas, they were not wealthy, but the name persisted. Before statehood, the name "New Mexico" was applied to various configurations of the U.
S. territory, to a Mexican state, to a province of New Spain, all in the same general area, but of varying extensions. With a total area of 121,699 square miles, the state is the fifth-largest state of the US, larger than British Isles. New Mexico's eastern border lies along 103°W longitude with the state of Oklahoma, 2.2 miles west of 103°W longitude with Texas. On the southern border, Texas makes up the eastern two-thirds, while the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora make up the western third, with Chihuahua making up about 90% of that; the western border with Arizona runs along the 109° 03'W longitude. The southwestern corner of the state is known as the Bootheel; the 37°N parallel forms the northern boundary with Colorado. The states of New Mexico, Colorado and Utah come together at the Four Corners in New Mexico's northwestern corner. New Mexico has no natural water sources
1910 United States Census
The Thirteenth United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau on April 15, 1910, determined the resident population of the United States to be 92,228,496, an increase of 21.0 percent over the 76,212,168 persons enumerated during the 1900 Census. The 1910 Census switched from a portrait page orientation to a landscape orientation; the 1910 census collected the following information: Full documentation for the 1910 census, including census forms and enumerator instructions, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. The column titles in the census form are as follows: LOCATION. Street, road, etc. House number. 1. Number of dwelling house in order of visitation. 2. Number of family in order of visitation. 3. NAME of each person whose place of abode on April 15, 1910, was in this family. Enter surname first the given name and middle initial, if any. Include every person living on April 15, 1910. Omit children born since April 15, 1910. RELATION. 4. Relationship of this person to the head of the family.
PERSONAL DESCRIPTION. 5. Sex. 6. Color or race. 7. Age at last birthday. 8. Whether single, widowed, or divorced. 9. Number of years of present marriage. 10. Mother of how many children: Number born. 11. Mother of how many children: Number now living. NATIVITY. Place of birth of each person and parents of each person enumerated. If born in the United States, give the state or territory. If of foreign birth, give the country. 12. Place of birth of this Person. 13. Place of birth of Father of this person. 14. Place of birth of Mother of this person. CITIZENSHIP. 15. Year of immigration to the United States. 16. Whether naturalized or alien. 17. Whether able to speak English. OCCUPATION. 18. Trade or profession of, or particular kind of work done by this person, as spinner, laborer, etc. 19. General nature of industry, business, or establishment in which this person works, as cotton mill, dry goods store, etc. 20. Whether as employer, employee, or work on own account. If an employee— 21. Whether out of work on April 15, 1910.
22. Number of weeks out of work during year 1909. EDUCATION. 23. Whether able to read. 24. Whether able to write. 25. Attended school any time since September 1, 1909. OWNERSHIP OF HOME. 26. Owned or rented. 27. Owned free or mortgaged. 28. Farm or house. 29. Number of farm schedule. 30. Whether a survivor of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy. 31. Whether blind. 32. Whether deaf and dumb. Special Notation In 1912 and 1959, New Mexico, Arizona and Hawaii would become the 47th, 48th, 49th and 50th states admitted to the Union; the 1910 population count for each of these areas was 327,301, 204,354, 64,356 and 191,909 respectively. On this basis, the ranking list above would be modified as follows: First 42 ranked states - positions unchanged New Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii, Wyoming and Alaska; the original census enumeration sheets were microfilmed by the Census Bureau in the 1940s. The microfilmed census is available in rolls from the National Records Administration. Several organizations host images of the microfilmed census online, along which digital indices.
Microdata from the 1910 census are available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System. 1911 U. S Census Report Contains 1910 Census results Historic US Census data census.gov/population/www/censusdata/PopulationofStatesandCountiesoftheUnitedStates1790-1990.pdf
Conejos County, Colorado
Conejos County is one of the 64 counties of the U. S. state of Colorado. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,256; the county seat is the unincorporated community of Conejos. The first European known to visit this area was Don Diego de Vargas in 1694, but he left behind no colonists. In 1708, Juan de Uribarri passed through searching for run-away Indian slaves. Conejos County was one of the original 17 counties created by the General Assembly of the Territory of Colorado on 1861-11-01, although it was named Guadalupe County and renamed Conejos County a week on November 7, its name coming from the Spanish word "conejo", meaning rabbit, for the large abundance of rabbits in the area. Early in its existence, the county seat was moved from the town of Guadalupe to Conejos; the original boundaries of the county included a large portion of southwestern Colorado. In 1874, most of the western and northern portions of the county were broken away to form parts of Hinsdale, La Plata and Rio Grande counties, Conejos County achieved its modern borders in 1885 when its western half was taken to create Archuleta County.
The community of Conejos is the location of the oldest church in Colorado, called Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. This church was constructed in 1856; the first settlers into the area were from New Mexico from Abiquiu, San Juan de los Caballeros and Santa Cruz. As more people arrived, mission churches were set up and all had the records housed with Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish; when the neighboring town of Antonito was built, the Theatines, priests from Spain, came into the area and built St. Augustine church in 1880 within Antonito; the church records from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish are now housed at the church offices of Saint Augustine. Conejos is a mile northwest of Antonito. Presbyterians came into Conejos County in 1880 establishing churches in Antonito, Cenicero, Del Norte, San Rafael, Monte Vista, they established schools in the area and had a large number of Hispanic converts. A jacal went up in 1854 in Guadalupe, now known as Conejos, the beginning of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. There is a large Mormon population within Conejos County.
Settlers belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began settling in the towns of La Jara and Sanford. Fox Creek, a village 11 miles west of Antonito, is the newest community to have an LDS meetinghouse erected, although there had been a meetinghouse there. Fox Creek, does not have a predominantly Mormon population. Records available for this area are marriage records. Divorce records are maintained by the clerk of the district court. Agencies that hold records for marriages and divorces from 1900 to 1939 are the Colorado State Archives and Denver Public Library Genealogy Department. Other records available are marriage records from 1871 and death records from 1877-1907; this include land records from 1871, probate records from 1875, court records from 1877. However, some records were lost due to a fire. Websites that will be of use when doing genealogical research are The Colorado Genealogical Society and Conejos County WW II Enlistments; when Colorado Amendment 64 was being voted into effect by Coloradans, Conejos County residents voted against approving the measure to legalize and regulate recreational Marijuana consumption and possession for those 21 or older.
According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,291 square miles, of which 1,287 square miles is land and 3.6 square miles is water. Conejos County is in a broad high mountain valley in South Central Colorado, it has an area of 825,446 acres in 1,290 square miles. Half the area is on the nearly level floor of the valley, where the average elevation is about 7,700 feet; the western half of the county ranges from rolling to steep foothills with mountains that rise in elevation to about 13,000 feet. Conejos County is situated with the National Forest to the west and the Rio Grande to the east, along Colorado's southern border with the state of New Mexico. Only about 34 percent of Conejos County is owned with the other 66 percent being National Forest, Bureau of Land Management or State owned lands. In winter, the average temperature is 21.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the average daily minimum temperature is 4 degrees. In summer, the average temperature is 61.4 degrees, the average maximum temperature is 79.6 degrees.
Seventy-one percent of the annual precipitation falls in the months of April through September. Average seasonal snowfall is 28 inches; the average relative humidity in mid-afternoon in spring is less than 35 percent. The percentage of possible sunshine is 73 in the winter. Rio Grande County - north Alamosa County - northeast Costilla County - east Taos County, New Mexico - southeast Rio Arriba County, New Mexico - south Archuleta County- west Rio Grande National Forest San Juan National Forest South San Juan Wilderness Old Spanish National Historic Trail Pike's Stockade, a National Historic Landmark Continental Divide National Scenic Trail Los Caminos Antiguos Scenic & Historic Byway As of the census of 2000, there were 8,400 people, 2,9
U.S. Route 285
U. S. Route 285 is a north–south United States highway, running 846 miles through the states of Texas, New Mexico and Colorado; the highway's southern terminus is in Sanderson, Texas at an intersection with U. S. Route 90. US 285 has always had an endpoint in Denver, although the original US 285 went north from Denver. Today the highway's northern terminus is in Denver, at exit 201 on Interstate 25. US 285 is a secondary route of US 85, which it crosses in metro Denver, crossed again in Santa Fe, New Mexico. US 285 intersects a sibling route, US 385, in Fort Stockton, Texas. Trucking makes up a large portion of the route's traffic, but along much of its route the road is used for local travel from one town to the next; the northern section of US 285, from Santa Fe to Denver, traverses rocky terrain. The southern terminus of US 285 is at US 90 in Sanderson. Proceeding north from there, it crosses I-10 at Fort Stockton, meets I-20 at Pecos on its way to New Mexico; as 285 traverses north on the eastern plains of New Mexico, it passes through Carlsbad and Roswell.
In Artesia the route intersects with U. S. Route 82. In Roswell, the route intersects with U. S. Route 70 and U. S. Route 380; the route next heads northwest to Vaughn where it has a brief concurrency with U. S. Route 54 and U. S. Route 60; the route continues northwest and has a junction with Interstate 40 at Clines Corners. Heading north out of Clines Corners, the route continues towards the state capital. At the outskirts of Santa Fe, the route becomes concurrent with I-25, U. S. Route 84, its unsigned parent for several miles heading west through the foothills of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains to Santa Fe. After exiting I-25, US 285 follows Saint Francis Drive through Santa Fe; the route continues north by northwest to Española and Chamita, where the concurrency with US 84 ends. The route traverses the Carson National Forest where 285 now makes a long climb up to the Colorado Plateau, passing through Ojo Caliente as it ascends to the San Luis Valley. After crossing US 64, the highway passes through the village of Tres Piedras, New Mexico at the south end of the valley proceeds north to the Colorado border.
Heading north from the Colorado border, US 285 passes through the main part of the San Luis Valley reaching Alamosa. As the highway heads north, it begins to ascend to the northern end of the valley and climbs over Poncha Pass, elevation 9,012 feet, drops down the other side into the Arkansas River Valley; the highway brushes Salida and follows the Arkansas River north up the valley takes a sharp eastward turn just before the small town of Buena Vista. 285 climbs over Trout Creek Pass, elevation 9,346 feet, enters the high-altitude South Park basin. A few miles north, the highway passes through Fairplay and the historic South Park City site reaches its highest elevation: 10,051 feet, at the summit of Red Hill Pass. US 285 leaves the South Park basin and climbs over Kenosha Pass, elevation 10,001 feet, skirts the south side of the Mount Evans massif as it descends its way through the foothills range towards Denver; as the highway leaves the Rocky Mountains and reaches Denver's southwest suburbs, it becomes Hampden Avenue, an important artery in the Denver metro area reaches its northern terminus at I-25.
On March 14, 2008 both houses of the Colorado legislature, in a unanimous vote, named the section between Kenosha Pass and C-470 the Ralph Carr Memorial Highway. The short segment between US 50 at Salida and US 24 at Buena Vista parallels the original U. S. Route 650, designated in 1926, but eliminated in 1936 when US 285 was commissioned along its present extent from Sanderson to Denver replacing state-numbered highways. Between Denver and Como, US 285 follows the route of the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad, part of the original narrow gauge transcontinental railroad; the route skirts the south side of the Mount Evans massif descends into and crosses the South Park. Como in Colorado's South Park still houses one of the few remaining narrow gauge roundhouses; the transcontinental railroad route breaks away from US 285 at Como, going northwest over Boreas Pass en route to Breckenridge, the rich gold fields of Leadville, connecting to California. Texas US 90 in Sanderson US 385 in Fort Stockton.
The highways travel concurrently through Fort Stockton. I‑10 / US 67 in Fort Stockton I‑20 in Pecos New Mexico US 62 / US 180 in Carlsbad; the highways travel concurrently through Carlsbad. US 82 in Artesia US 70 / US 380 in Roswell. US 70/US 285 travels concurrently to north of Roswell. US 54 / US 60 southeast of Vaughn. US 54/US 285 travels concurrently to southwest of Vaughn. US 60/US 285 travels concurrently to Encino. I‑40 in Clines Corners I‑25 / US 84 / US 85 in Eldorado at Santa Fe. I-25/US 85/US 285 travels concurrently to south of Santa Fe. US 84/US 285 travels concurrently to north-northwest of Hernandez. US 64 in Tres Piedras Colorado US 160 in Alamosa; the highways travel concurrently to Monte Vista. US 50 in Poncha Springs; the highways travel concurrently through Poncha Springs. US 24 in Johnson Village; the highways travel concurrently to Antero Junction. US 85 in Sheridan and Englewood I‑25 / US 87 in Denver U. S. Roads portal Endpoints of US highway 285 Map index for photos taken along the entire length of US 285
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most identify, indicate whether or not they are of Hispanic or Latino origin. The racial categories represent a social-political construct for the race or races that respondents consider themselves to be and, "generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country." OMB defines the concept of race as outlined for the US Census as not "scientific or anthropological" and takes into account "social and cultural characteristics as well as ancestry", using "appropriate scientific methodologies" that are not "primarily biological or genetic in reference." The race categories include both national-origin groups. Race and ethnicity are considered separate and distinct identities, with Hispanic or Latino origin asked as a separate question. Thus, in addition to their race or races, all respondents are categorized by membership in one of two ethnic categories, which are "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino".
However, the practice of separating "race" and "ethnicity" as different categories has been criticized both by the American Anthropological Association and members of US Commission on Civil Rights. In 1997, OMB issued a Federal Register notice regarding revisions to the standards for the classification of federal data on race and ethnicity. OMB developed race and ethnic standards in order to provide "consistent data on race and ethnicity throughout the Federal Government; the development of the data standards stem in large measure from new responsibilities to enforce civil rights laws." Among the changes, OMB issued the instruction to "mark one or more races" after noting evidence of increasing numbers of interracial children and wanting to capture the diversity in a measurable way and having received requests by people who wanted to be able to acknowledge their or their children's full ancestry rather than identifying with only one group. Prior to this decision, the Census and other government data collections asked people to report only one race.
The OMB states, "many federal programs are put into effect based on the race data obtained from the decennial census. Race data are critical for the basic research behind many policy decisions. States require these data to meet legislative redistricting requirements; the data are needed to monitor compliance with the Voting Rights Act by local jurisdictions". "Data on ethnic groups are important for putting into effect a number of federal statutes. Data on Ethnic Groups are needed by local governments to run programs and meet legislative requirements." The 1790 United States Census was the first census in the history of the United States. The population of the United States was recorded as 3,929,214 as of Census Day, August 2, 1790, as mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution and applicable laws."The law required that every household be visited, that completed census schedules be posted in'two of the most public places within, there to remain for the inspection of all concerned...' and that'the aggregate amount of each description of persons' for every district be transmitted to the president."
This law along with U. S. marshals were responsible for governing the census. One third of the original census data has been lost or destroyed since documentation; the data was lost in 1790–1830 time period and included data from: Connecticut, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia. Census data included the name of the head of the family and categorized inhabitants as follows: free white males at least 16 years of age, free white males under 16 years of age, free white females, all other free persons, slaves. Thomas Jefferson the Secretary of State, directed marshals to collect data from all thirteen states, from the Southwest Territory; the census was not conducted in Vermont until 1791, after that state's admission to the Union as the 14th state on March 4 of that year. There was some doubt surrounding the numbers, President George Washington and Thomas Jefferson maintained the population was undercounted; the potential reasons Washington and Jefferson may have thought this could be refusal to participate, poor public transportation and roads, spread out population, restraints of current technology.
No microdata from the 1790 population census is available, but aggregate data for small areas and their compatible cartographic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System. In 1800 and 1810, the age question regarding free white males was more detailed; the 1820
ZIP Code
A ZIP Code is a postal code used by the United States Postal Service in a system it introduced in 1963. The term ZIP is an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan; the basic format consists of five digits. An extended ZIP+4 code was introduced in 1983 which includes the five digits of the ZIP Code, followed by a hyphen and four additional digits that reference a more specific location; the term ZIP Code was registered as a servicemark by the U. S. Postal Service, but its registration has since expired; the early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers. The United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. For example: The "16" was the number of the postal zone in the specific city. By the early 1960s, a more organized system was needed, non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide on July 1, 1963; the USPOD issued its Publication 59: Abbreviations for Use with ZIP Code on October 1, 1963, with the list of two-letter state abbreviations which are written with both letters capitalized.
An earlier list in June had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters. According to Publication 59, the two-letter standard was "based on a maximum 23-position line, because this has been found to be the most universally acceptable line capacity basis for major addressing systems", which would be exceeded by a long city name combined with a multi-letter state abbreviation, such as "Sacramento, Calif." along with the ZIP Code. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with the exception of Nebraska, changed from NB to NE in 1969 at the request of the Canadian postal administration, to avoid confusion with the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Robert Moon is considered the father of the ZIP Code; the post office only credits Moon with the first three digits of the ZIP Code, which describe the sectional center facility or "sec center." An SCF is a central mail processing facility with those three digits. The fourth and fifth digits, which give a more precise locale within the SCF, were proposed by Henry Bentley Hahn Sr.
The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first three digits in their ZIP Codes. The mail is sorted according to the final two 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, most of their employees work the night shift. Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. In the case of large cities, the last two digits coincide with the older postal zone number thus: In 1967, these became mandatory for second- and third-class bulk mailers, the system was soon adopted generally; the United States Post Office used a cartoon character, which it called Mr. ZIP, to promote the use of the ZIP Code, he was depicted with a legend such as "USE ZIP CODE" in the selvage of panes of postage stamps or on the covers of booklet panes of stamps. In 1971 Elmira Star-Gazette reporter Dick Baumbach found out the White House was not using a ZIP Code on its envelopes.
Herb Klein, special assistant to President Nixon, responded by saying the next printing of envelopes would include the ZIP Code. In 1983, the U. S. Postal Service introduced an expanded ZIP Code system that it called ZIP+4 called "plus-four codes", "add-on codes", or "add-ons". 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, a post office box, or any other unit that could use an extra identifier to aid in efficient mail sorting and delivery. However, 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 that instantly determines the correct ZIP+4 Code from the address—along with the more specific delivery point—and sprays an Intelligent Mail barcode on the face of the mail piece that corresponds to 11 digits—nine for the ZIP+4 Code and two for the delivery point.
For Post Office Boxes, the general rule is. The add-on code is one of the following: the last four digits of the box number, zero plus the last three digits of the box number, or, if the box number consists of fewer than four digits, enough zeros are attached to the front of the box number to produce a four-digit number. However, there is no uniform rule, so the ZIP+4 Code must be looked up individually for each box; the ZIP Code is translated into an Intelligent Mail barcode, printed on the mailpiece to make it easier for automated machines to sort. A barcode can be printed by the sender, it is better to let the post office put one on. In general, the post office uses OCR technology, though in some cases a human might have to read and enter the address. Customers who send bulk mail can get a discount on postage if they have printed the barcode themselves and have presorted the mai
