Identifying a post mark?

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

How would you go about looking up a post mark to determine the origin of a piece of mail? I Googled the info but it didn't turn up anything conclusive. The post mark doesn't look like anything I have seen before, but it is definitely domestic. Does anybody know a website that will match post marks with city of origin?

 

[ChristmasElf]

Can you make out the zip code on the postmark? You could Google that and that would tell you the city and state.

I do know if the ZIP starts with a 1 it is from New York. A 0 is Massachusetts and most of New England I believe.
A 3 is Florida.
A 4 is Michigan and Ohio
A zip that starts with a 7 would be Texas
Azip that starts with an 8 is New Mexico or Arizona
A zip that starts with a 9 is West Coast and California.

 

[msdznyduck]

A lot of NJ is also '0'

 

[CarolG]

Georgia zip codes start with 3, too.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

PA starts with 1, in the eastern part of the state you'll find 17, 18 and 19.

Zip Codes start at 0 in New England and count up through starting with 3 in the south. Working westward they continue to increase in number, ending with 9 as the first number on the west coast.

http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown_zip.jsp

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

This particular piece of mail was sent anonymously. It has no return address. From the postmark the zip appears to begin with 296. When did they switch from the round postmark to these 2-line horizontal marks? The old round marks had the city & state along with the first 3 digits of the zip. Flipping through recent mail it looks like they don't use the round marks now. Interesting. Of course the vast majority of mail we get is bills or junk mail, so no wonder I didn't know the post marks had changed!

Thanks for your help! I have a feeling I know where (and who) this came from!

 

[LuvN~Travel]

It all depends on each city what kind of postmark they use. There are just so many variations out there that you can't keep up with them. But, 296 does come out of the Carolinas if that helps. South Carolina I think. (Sorry I was an incoming clerk, not outgoing)
Kim