Talk:Zionsville, Pennsylvania

Post office closure

I have lived in the Zionsville area (just west of Powder Valley) since the end of 1979 and I never imagined that we'd lose our post office, let alone by the callous, selfish stunt played by the owners. This did not occur by the USPS's doing. Former Upper Milford Supervisor Henry Kradjel (pronounced 'KRAY-jel') lived next door to the facility and told me that the couple wanted to use the space for additional room for their antique collection.

Although it had at least the three months' notice required by law, the USPS did not notify us of the impending closure until three weeks in advance. It had one public hearing in September 2010 that occurred in the early afternoon on a weekday and was poorly advertised (only by note on the walls of the Hereford and Old Zionsville PO's.) Over 100 people showed up anyway outside the Old Zionsville facility to meet with Pennsylvania USPS representative Dan Reiss, who sounded callous and like a broken record as he responded repeatedly, "that is the process."

I predictably didn't find out about this until almost two months later in the East Penn Free Press, which had more thorough coverage of these events than the Morning Call did. The residents requested a second hearing at a more convenient time but were rebuffed, as they were also with their petition of over 400 signatures to expand the space of the Old Zionsville facility into the space left open by the township offices' move to the Kings Highway School site. The whole manner in which this was handled stank.

Hereford has been used to serve the Zionsville residents since January 2009 since it is the closest location with the necessary space and it is also served by the Lehigh Valley Regional PO (its zip code is 18056.) During the hearing, Reiss said that he couldn't guarantee that our zip code wouldn't be revoked, but an aide from Congressman Charlie Dent's office told me this month that the use of "Zionsville 18092" shall continue, although the office closure is permanent. Had we been forced to use "Hereford 18056," I'd REALLY be livid. There are many uses of zip codes such as insurance rates, marketing, and GPS that stood to be skewed in such a case. Could you imagine Hereford extending almost to Interstate 476 on the zip-code map?

One good thing is that my neighborhood actually gets earlier mail service at home. How can the antiques couple sleep well at night with a good conscience? Heff01 (talk) 19:13, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

The first Morning Call link that I added to the Zionsville article says that its post office served "1,000 people" and then "1,000 residents," when it actually meant about 1,000 residences. Over 2,800 people were residents of the zip code in the 2000 census (almost 3 1/2 times as many as the Hereford Township portion using 18056) and it grew more rapidly than the national average this past decade. Heff01 (talk) 00:21, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Until 1990, Zionsville customers had a rural-delivery address format requiring an "RD1" for points west of the PO location or "RD2" for the eastern portion. We also had to receive new street-address numbers at that time in order to comply with the mandate from the emerging Lehigh County 911 system. I'm glad that this federal bureaucracy didn't resort to the "nuclear option" with our addresses. There's virtually no oversight and no right of appeal, although Charlie Dent and Pat Toomey could have passed an Act of Congress requiring the USPS to allow the continued use of "Zionsville 18092." That is what I had proposed when I learned of the final USPS decision. Had this closure occurred a few years earlier, it would have had the funding available to move the Zionsville space into Old Zionsville, but it didn't happen until it was too late. Heff01 (talk) 19:08, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Map of Zionsville and surrounding zip codes [1] Small village-only PO locations such as Limeport, Old Zionsville, and Zionhill can be clicked in the list, although you won't see them on the map in red numbers. Heff01 (talk) 19:11, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

On 28 March, Henry Kradjel will be discussing the history of the Zionsville Post Office at the new Upper Milford Township Building. The building used to host a general store (of which he was the last owner) and at one time a few other services. Heff01 (talk) 22:00, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

I apologise since the date mentioned above was one day before when it correctly will be, 29 March at 7 PM at the new Upper Milford Township Building (which was formerly Kings Highway School.) It will be part of the Hivel Und Dahl Society's quarterly meeting. Heff01 (talk) 20:07, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Upper Milford Township actually grew less than the county rate this past decade, despite being above it in the 90's. The county grew a little above the national rate---but the Zionsvile zip code approximated the state average---it slowed while the county as a whole picked up due largely to accelerated growth in Allentown and Lower Mac.--- Heff01 (talk) 20:05, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

The Hereford PO had a fire on Christmas morning of 2016 and as of my posting remains closed except for lobby self-service! The delivery is normal and PO boxes and pickups are handled by the Palm post office. Another consequence for Zionsville! Now where is the funding to repair the mess? A gaping hole remains in the roof as of this post. Heff01 (talk) 19:16, 17 February 2018 (UTC)

In November 2018 the Hereford PO finally reopened eleven months after the fire. It never should have been Zionsville's problem. Heff01 (talk) 07:46, 15 February 2019 (UTC)

Indiana?

All right, who made this page identical to Zionsville, Indiana? This isn't funny; it is vandalism! Heff01 (talk) 07:38, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Area code

There is a north/south divide in area code between the Emmaus and Pennsburg telephone exchanges which passes south of the village of Zionsville. It splits the zip code so that Zionsville proper and Old Zionsville, Dillingerville, Sigmund, and most of Powder Valley have 610 and so Corning, Hosensack, and most of the Powder Valley gorge have 215. Heff01 (talk) 06:09, 9 March 2016 (UTC)