Arcata Post Office Celebrates Town’s Sesquicentennial

A postmark 150 years in the making

ARCATA Calif. — This month, the town of Arcata celebrates its 150-year anniversary, and the U.S. Postal Service is commemorating the occasion by offering a special postmark.

On September 12, 2008 the public is invited to stop by the Arcata Post Office, 799 H Street, which will be offering a special cancellation celebrating Arcata's sesquicentennial. All you need to bring is a stamped envelope or postcard and the employees of the Arcata Post Office will be happy to postmark it for you. Of course, you can also purchase stamped envelopes for the special cancellation.

Arcata is located on the ancestral lands of the Wiyot Tribe, on the edge of Humboldt Bay and is surrounded by redwood forests. The town was formally incorporated as a city in 1858. The Post Office in Arcata was established Oct. 9, 1852 when the town was called Union. The permanent name change to Arcata, which roughly translates to “a place to land,” occurred in 1860. The main portion of the current Post Office was once the primary train depot for the town. City delivery was introduced to Arcata in the 1940s.

For more information on all the activities of sesquicentennial week in Arcata visit www.arcatacityhall.org.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation — 146 million homes and businesses. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.