| By Rob Wheary, Staff WriterSeptember 20, 2002 |
rob_w@newsitem.com CENTRALIA � So much is already gone from this fire-ravaged mining town. As of next year, its ZIP code will be gone, too. In a letter delivered to residents, the U.S. Postal Service announced that, due to the official closing of the Centralia Post Office, which has just been recognized although the building has been gone for five years, the disappearing borough’s 17927 ZIP code will no longer be recognized. This is just another slap in the face to the 20 remaining residents of Centralia, said John J. Lokitis Jr., one of few remaining Centralian’s, upon hearing the news. A letter from Joanne M. Ford, officer-in-charge of the Ashland Post Office, informing Centralian’s of the change arrived in mail boxes Thursday. The letter, in part, read, Since mail is handled by automated machinery for sorting, improper addressing causes numerous problems and delays in delivery. Centralia, Pa. 17927, is no longer a valid address for your location. Street addresses for residents will remain the same; only the ZIP code will change to Ashland’s 17921. Mail to Centralia has been rerouted to the Ashland Post Office since the Centralia location closed several years ago. Enforcement of the regulations won’t take effect until Sept. 18, 2003, to give people time to contact those with whom they correspond. From then on, any mail that is addressed Centralia, Pa., 17921 will be returned to sender. While the address may be changing, Ford said service will not be lost. Nothing is changing. she said. The people who have been getting their mail through our rural deliver carriers will be getting the mail the same way; all that is changing is the ZIP code. The now famous mine fire has been burning underneath the Schuylkill County borough for some 40 years. Fearing subsidence’s, the federal government began purchasing and demolishing properties in the borough in 1983. Since then, population numbers have dwindled from a few thousand residents to the 20 people who remain today. |
| The News Item 2002 |