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Image / Mail sorter or processor, Post Office Terminal Annex

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Title
Mail sorter or processor, Post Office Terminal Annex
Alternative Title
Security Pacific National Bank Photo Collection
Contributing Institution
Los Angeles Public Library
Collection
Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
Rights Information
Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html for additional information.
Description
Oversized photograph.
An unidentified gentleman can be seen working inside the Post Office Terminal Annex, also known as Los Angeles Terminal Annex Post Office. He sorts through an abundance of letters that lay on a circular desk in front of him, which he then deposits individually into a machine that is on his left. Employees of the United States Postal Service are divided into three major categories: Letter Carriers (also referred to as mailpersons or mail-carriers); Mail Handlers and Processors; and Clerks. In the olden days there were more mail handlers and processors, such as the man seen here, that often worked in the evening and at night preparing mail and bulk goods for the carriers to deliver. Today, processing of standard sized envelopes and cards is highly automated using machines that expedite this procedure, which means that fewer postal workers are needed. The Post Office Terminal Annex was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood in the California Mission style and was built in 1938; the supervising engineer was Neal A. Melick. This 400,000 square feet building served as the main mail distribution center for the Metropolitan Los Angeles area from 1938 until 1994. Approximately 1,700 Post Office employees handled over four million pieces of incoming and outgoing mail on a daily basis. The Post Office Terminal Annex was added to the National Register of Historic Places - Building #85000131, on January 11, 1985. Although no longer used as a post office, the building is used occasionally as a filming site.
Type
Image
Format
1 photograph :b&w ;28 x 35 cm.
Photographic prints
Identifier
00074377
Security Pacific National Bank Collection
Postal service-L.A.
CARL0000077436
http://173.196.26.125/cdm/ref/collection/photos/id/115199
Subject
United States Post Office Terminal Annex (Los Angeles, Calif.)
United States Postal Service
Post office buildings--California--Los Angeles
Historic buildings--California--Los Angeles
Postal service--California--Los Angeles
Mail sorting--California--Los Angeles
Postal service--Employees
Underwood, Gilbert Stanley
Melick, Neal A

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