History of Public Mailboxes in Detroit

Here's another topic we haven't done yet. You know those blue USPS public mailboxes that appear at like every few corners? Well, this is where we'll talk about the history of public mailboxes in and around Detroit.

Here's a helpful link:
http://www.payphone-project.com/mail...I/DETROIT.html

And here's a couple questions as well?

• Are there still any mailboxes in or around Detroit that still have the old "US MAIL" logo used up until 1993?
• Those green relay mailboxes that you see in other cities, even Ann Arbor-well, are there still any of those in or around Detroit?

There used to be a green relay box at Samoset and Batchewana in Clawson, but it is gone now. I remember it growing up, we used to joke that it was for the unabomber.

Here's an article about relay boxes: http://thepositivepage.com/2012/06/1...-walk-in-town/

We used to call the ones around Wayne State, student housing. Haven't seen any transfer boxes. Mailboxes I have seen mostly near office buildings.

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Originally Posted by 48307

There used to be a green relay box at Samoset and Batchewana in Clawson, but it is gone now. I remember it growing up, we used to joke that it was for the unabomber.

Here's an article about relay boxes: http://thepositivepage.com/2012/06/1...-walk-in-town/

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Have you seen any green relay mailboxes since then?

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Originally Posted by mtburb

Have you seen any green relay mailboxes since then?

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Here's one in southwest Utica. It seems to be on private property though. I don't know its story. Maybe it's a piece of nostalgia for a retired mailman.

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Originally Posted by Jimaz

Here's one in southwest Utica. It seems to be on private property though. I don't know its story. Maybe it's a piece of nostalgia for a retired mailman.

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There seems to be a pattern here with heating oil tanks and postal relay boxes being phased out... lol

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Originally Posted by canuck

There seems to be a pattern here with heating oil tanks and postal relay boxes being phased out... lol

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Yeah, they do look similar but I'm pretty sure that's not a heating oil tank in Utica. [[Perhaps I misunderstood.)

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Originally Posted by Jimaz

Yeah, they do look similar but I'm pretty sure that's not a heating oil tank in Utica. [[Perhaps I misunderstood.)

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Only kidding. They have an eerie similarity.

Found another former green relay box: this one was at Coolidge and Frazier in River Rouge. There's still a blue mailbox there, but a pedestrian traffic light now stands where the relay box was.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2820/...7c4ae321_b.jpg

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Originally Posted by mtburb

... a pedestrian traffic light now stands where the relay box was.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2820/...7c4ae321_b.jpg

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Google Street View of that

We had an old red top with blue bottom mailbox across the street from my house at the corner of Lyndon and Archdale in Grandmont, that had block-capital letters "US MAIL" on the lower portion of the red. It must have been replaced around 75 or 76 with the solid blue with the previous generation USPS eagle logo on the side.

There was a green transfer box close to the regular mailbox on Jos. Campau and Zinow in Hamtramck. I'll have to check if it's still there.

A subject that always interested me. There was a blue and red version like the image below at my maternal Grandparents home on the corner of Kenmore and Algonac. Images are from Burton with more here.
http://digitalcollections.detroitpub...eam/IMAGE/view


http://digitalcollections.detroitpub...eam/IMAGE/view

http://digitalcollections.detroitpub...eam/IMAGE/view

From the Detroit News Archives. Not a box per se, but still on topic methinks.


Attachment 27673

My childhood neighborhood in Royal Oak may still have its green relay box at the
corner of Florence and North Maple. Starting from the Royal Oak bus stop one
goes north on Sherman Drive a block or two past the former Land Pharmacy
[[triangular building with minimal parking). Go right on North Maple, the box is
right there, if it hasn't been removed.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4919...7i13312!8i6656

[[Krawlspace's "Zippy" is funny!)

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Originally Posted by Dumpling

My childhood neighborhood in Royal Oak may still have its green relay box at the
corner of Florence and North Maple. Starting from the Royal Oak bus stop one
goes north on Sherman Drive a block or two past the former Land Pharmacy
[[triangular building with minimal parking). Go right on North Maple, the box is
right there, if it hasn't been removed.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4919...7i13312!8i6656

[[Krawlspace's "Zippy" is funny!)

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It appears that it may still be there as of April, according to a new aerial image.

Growing up on the east side of Detroit, there was a relay box on Courville at Waveney. It was situated right next to the street sign post, with a small boulder at the bottom. A great stepping stone to propel up the pole to sit on top of the relay box and watch the cars go by. Younger brother fell off the box once.

I accidentally stumbled upon this relay box that is alive and well at Southfield and Annapolis in Dearborn Heights as of this past October.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2772...2!8i6656?hl=en

please keep the postal service alive.

When I was growing up, all of the mailboxes were green. Some were for mail deposit and some were for "storage mail" to support the carriers in the area. You had to look close to tell them apart. Many of the mail deposit boxes were small [[about 18" x 30") and mounted on a pole.

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Originally Posted by Kathleen

Growing up on the east side of Detroit, there was a relay box on Courville at Waveney. It was situated right next to the street sign post, with a small boulder at the bottom. A great stepping stone to propel up the pole to sit on top of the relay box and watch the cars go by. Younger brother fell off the box once.

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There was a relay box across the street from my parent's house on Grosse Pointe Boulevard and Cambridge. The corner was also the bus stop. One afternoon one of our dogs "escaped" from the backyard and managed to corner one of the ladies waiting for a bus on top of the box. Needless to say my mom apologized profusely to her. She was pretty tough though, and was there the next week waiting for the bus.

Who remembers the specially-decorated "ABCD" boxes downtown from the mid-1960s? This stood for Accelerated Business Collection and Delivery, I can't remember if it was a special paint job or just a sticker or sign. A downtown business could drop an envelope in one and have it delivered in the city the same day. Obviously a different environment from today.