Steve Combs slid an envelope into a U.S. Postal Service blue collection box on Browns Ferry Road and then reminisced about the days when the boxes were more plentiful in the Chattanooga area.
Despite e-mail, text messaging and the Internet, the Trenton, Ga., resident still uses the traditional boxes at least once a week on his way home from work.
“It used to be convenient just about anywhere in Chattanooga just to drop a letter off,” he said. “Now it’s becoming more like you almost have to go to a post office because these things are not available.”
BY THE NUMBERS374 ZIP codes (Chattanooga)* 147 boxes remaining* 110 removed during 2008-10373 ZIP codes (18 counties in Southeast Tennessee)* 150 boxes remaining* 20 removed during 2009-10307 ZIP codes (7 counties in Northwest Georgia)* 82 boxes remaining* 18 removed during 2009-10Source: U.S. Postal Service, newspaper archives
Combs’ observations are reflected in Postal Service figures, which show a decline in the number of boxes in Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia.