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Confusing towns and ZIP codes enough to make us go postal

By JEFF WEBB
Published January 23, 2005

If you've lived in Hernando County for a while, you've probably been a part of, or at least overheard, the conversation. And if you are new to the area, you're probably still deciphering the dilemma.

Where does Brooksville begin and Spring Hill end? When does Weeki Wachee meld into Hernando Beach? And how come there's a part of Pasco County known as both Spring Hill and Shady Hills?

I'll warn you now, this column contains no simple, commonsense answers to those questions. But it does offer some explanations that may help understand the arbitrary and outdated system the U.S. Postal Service uses to shape Hernando County residents' geographic identities. It also will give some of you options if you're unhappy with your mailing address.

Mail is delivered according to ZIP codes, which by most accounts, is one of the great communicative inventions of our time. The system of five-digit numbers has done more to streamline overland mail delivery than any other. That doesn't mean we receive our mail sooner than we once did, but it has helped the Postal Service keep up with increases in population and the volume of mail. (Increasing postage has helped pay for all that automation, of course, but that's another story for another day.)

In Hernando County, there are 17 ZIP codes, or "delivery areas." They range from 34601 to 34614, excluding 34612, which is a ZIP being held in abeyance for future use, said Brooksville Postmaster Bob Carleton. Mail addressed to ZIP code 34610 is handled by Hernando County postal officials, but most of it is in Pasco County.

In addition to those, there are two additional ZIP codes in the eastern Hernando County community of Ridge Manor. One is 33523, which is administered by the post office in Dade City. The other is 33597, which is attached to the Webster post office in Sumter County. Also, Istachatta (34636) and Nobleton (34661) have their own ZIP codes, but that's because they only offer post office box deliveries.

While ZIP codes are the gospel for the Postal Service, the rest of us are still prone to associate the names of places with their placement on a map, and that is what creates the confusion.

If you live in the Chinsegut Hill area north of Brooksville, or Spring Lake to the south of that incorporated city, it makes sense to have your mail addressed "Brooksville, FL." But if you live in Glen Lakes, the Heather or Royal Highlands, Brooksville is your official mailing address, too. That doesn't make sense, geographically speaking, because those subdivisions are far west of Brooksville. But State Road 50 is the boundary the Postal Service uses, so if you're north of that highway, also known as Cortez Boulevard, your address is Brooksville.

If you live in Hernando Beach or Weeki Wachee, you are recognized as "Spring Hill" by the Postal Service. Correspondents can address your mail to Hernando Beach or Weeki Wachee or Spring Hill, and it probably will get there, but only if the correct ZIP code is attached.

The same goes for Ridge Manor residents. Even though the mail is routed through either Dade City, Webster or Brooksville, if it is addressed to Ridge Manor and has the right ZIP, you'll get it.

Some of the most common misunderstandings for newcomers involve businesses and communities that front State Road 50. Oak Hill Hospital, the High Point subdivision and the Beacon movie theater, for example, clearly are part of Spring Hill. But if you look them up in the telephone book or see them listed in the newspaper, for example, they are designated Brooksville.

People or businesses who are on that borderline have an option. They can ask the postmaster to include them in "an area of needed clarification," said Kathy Carlsen, who is the very informed manager of Address Management Systems for the regional post office in Tampa. If your request is deemed reasonable, the Postal Service will assign your address a GEOSEG. That stands for "Geographic Segment" and will require you to add a hyphen and four extra digits to your five-digit ZIP code. That alternative is especially useful if you send or receive "major mailings," said Carlsen.

Also, if a majority of residents in a subdivision agree to have a historically recognized neighborhood in their mailing address, i.e., Hernando Beach or Masaryktown, Brooksville Postmaster Carleton says they can gather a petition and bring it to him. River Country, on the west side of U.S. 19 has done just that, requesting that their mail be addressed uniformly "Weeki Wachee."

But folks in Royal Highlands, or Bayport or Spring Lake might not be given such consideration because those areas aren't "in the system," said Carlsen, the Postal Service guru in Tampa. "That's a process that takes more time." Decisions like that are made based on what is the "best way to provide service at a reasonable cost."

That reasoning, by the way, is how this area's postal delivery was assigned in the first place.

When was that?

"1977 was the last time," said Carlsen. She couldn't cite the time the zones were set before then. It could have been "when the Postal Service was first established in Dade City and Tampa."

Ah, nostalgia.

The era of accessing Mapquest has made it easy for those who are on the Internet. Punch in a couple of addresses and you can go from here to there in excruciating, mile-by-mile detail.

But for folks who still rely on the atlas or their own sense of direction, it can result in misdirection.

Change can and does happen, though. Folks in Ridge Manor, after years of frustration, can finally telephone Brooksville without it being a toll call.

As Hernando County grows up, there may be a time when we all know where we are. If not, perhaps we'll still be where we want to be.

[Last modified January 23, 2005, 00:13:14]