The Washington Post reports D.C.'s identity is in danger of being lost in the mail.
Reporter Darragh Johnson writes, "The Washington, D.C., postmark is fading into oblivion, a casualty of the anthrax attacks of 2001. After two postal workers died at a Northeast facility, the Postal Service began farming mail to the suburbs."
Johnson goes on to say, "Now the only way to guarantee a D.C. postmark is to take it in person to a post office and ask a clerk to cancel it by hand. Otherwise, it's a spin of the roulette wheel."
According to the article, in an experiment conducted by The Post, 235 envelopes were mailed from every quadrant in the District -- from 22 Zip codes, from post offices and blue boxes, from the mail slots of corporations and apartment buildings.
"Twenty-four letters were delivered with a Washington D.C. postmark. A measly 10 percent," says Johnson.
To read the entire article, click here.
Shown above a postal employee dumps mail into a processor at a Gaithersburg facility, where most mail that originates in Washington is sent for sorting.