Local Post Office Experiencing Major Growing Pains

But these days, there are too many names to remember. Since last year the number of customers served by the Morrisville Post Office has increased by 36 percent.

The 1000-square-foot post office opened in 1973. At the time, there were just three mail routes. Today there are 11 and in just one year the volume of mail in the town has increased by 22 percent.

"There's been a lot of growth here in Morrisville," says William Owings.

Owings knows what he's talking about. He's been delivering mail in Morrisville for ten years, and he's seen his route grow mailbox by mailbox.

"It's so rapid you can't even keep up with it," says George Denton, a customer with the post office. "I've talked to carriers who say new streets come in so quickly they don't even know where they're located."

Because they have outgrown the post office, the mail from Morrisville is actually sorted at an annex in Cary.

Morrisville's postmaster, Pat Sullivan, says help is on the way. A new post office will be built, but it will not happen for at least 18 months.

"We make due with what we have," says Sullivan. "We just deal with it as it comes towards us."

All of Morrisville's mail operations will be combined under one roof in the new building, which will be 18,000 square feet.