October 16th, 2006 | 
I ran across this interesting article last week in the Baltimore Sun discussing the huge decline in the number of USPS curbside mailboxes in use. Apparently, 42,000 mailboxes have been removed from service since 1999, leaving 295,000 in use.
Email and online bill payment are the big killers of the blue boxes, but security threats (the potential for bombs being dropped in) have caused many to be removed as well. According to the article:
“… disuse is the primary reason for box removal. Local post office branches conduct quarterly surveys of mailbox use, removing those that collect fewer than 25 pieces of mail per day. Citizens in communities across the country have circulated petitions to save mailboxes, and postal officials say they take such campaigns seriously.”
Sorta sad. The loss of another American icon.
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