Rural California Mailboxes
We passed by these mailboxes multiple times on the 74 (a.k.a. The Pines to Palms Highway) heading from Temecula through the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Forest less than 30 minutes west of Palm Desert. I finally stopped one day to snap this photo in 2012.
By 2015 they were all gone. My guess is the US Postal Sevice either decided to home deliver or people now pick up their mail at a local post office.
David Baker Laveen Realtor & South Phoenix Realtor
That is my guess. Maybe everyone requested mailboxes at their homes ratgher than driving all the way down this long rural road to pick up their mail. It was interesting to see such an array of mailboxes in one spot
Jeff
George Souto - there are a number places where I have seen group mailboxes, including the tract communities, but nothing nearly as substantial, or as varied as these. And you couldn't even see any houses except waaay off in the distance.
Jeff
Sophia Lin
There are quite a lot of rural type mail boxes out in this area, although not nearly the collection this was.
Jeff
Chrissi Chapman Topoleski - I thought so. I must have passed by a dozen times saying "I have to stop and take a photo" before I finally did
Cody Carmen - I remember that too, although it's been many years. And in New England, too.
Jeff
Kartik Subramaniam
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Ron and Alexandra Seigel
They were pretty unique - I got out of the car to take a closer look - some were pretty artistic!
Jeff
Hi Jeff Dowler ,
I love this shot! In 1995 the postal authorities outlawed these in Austin. They have cluster boxes..in the Canyon Creek subdivision where I market there are no individual mail boxes..all group cluster boxes.
Bob "RealMan" Timm
Minot, ND
Incredible photo. Yes, unfortunately the Post Office has streamlined a lot of their routes, I suspect. Part of the problem nowadays is probably security. On my Northern California property, I make sure nothing gets sent to the mailbox that is open to anyone.
Bob "RealMan" Timm
Minot, ND
Dorie Dillard - and that is mainly true in my area in the subdivisions
Hella M. Rothwell, Broker/Realtor® - well you certainly hear stories about security problems from time to time. Sounds ike a smart thing to do
Jeff
I remember rows and rows of mailboxes when I was a kid as we headed into the lakes area of MN Jeff Dowler . Thanks for the memory.
Bob "RealMan" Timm - you're welcome. I thought these were terrific the first time I saw them. Nothing like them where I live
Ed Silva - in that area I bet they do a lot of driving. WHile there are a good number of houses in the mountains they are spread out. As I recall there were over 50 mailboxes.
Jeff
Noah Seidenberg
Parts of CA are very rural, and not all that far inland from the coast. It's not subburbia.
Jeff
We still see this in my area. It's not uncommon. I had to laugh when I saw your picture. It's so Americana.
Good morning Jeff. I remember seeing this picture or something similar once before. In any event, very cool.
Good Morning Jeff - that was a familier sight were I grew up. They are probably all gone there too.
Debbie Laity - It really IS Americana, isn't it? I'm glad I finally got around to taking a photo.
Hi Sheila Anderson - thanks for coming by. It was fun to find this and share it. This drive out to the desert is beautiful and we always enjoyed the views and all the open space!
Jeff
Sheila Anderson
East Brunswick, NJ
Grant Schneider
I don't recall anything quite like this where I grew up - it wasn't that rural.
Have a great weekend.
Jeff
Jeff, we still have these here in parts of West Virginia. We get our mail at the post office.
What a sight and though it probably looks neater now that they are gone, there is something about seeing mailboxes like this all lined up.
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