# How to get address and mail service to undeveloped property?



## olywa1978 (Aug 10, 2014)

I am new to these forums and am about to head to my new 2.3-acre undeveloped lot in S. Oregon in a couple weeks. It's going to be a rough start, showing up there so late in the year, so much to do before the snow starts falling and it gets cold. It's just my two dogs and I out there and I have a bunch of questions for you guys and I'll do my best to search for prior related threads first. I'll create a new thread for each question to make it easier for future newbies to find specific questions in the search.

First question is, how to I get a numerical address assigned to my undeveloped property and get mail service? Who do I contact and how much do I have to pay for this? I currently have a PO box in Washington and I could get another in Oregon, but I want to cut out as many monthly bills as I can, to lower the level of income needed to get my homestead off the ground. Thanks! Mike


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## littlebitfarm (Mar 21, 2005)

I went to my post office and asked for an address. Might give it a shot.


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## K-9 (Jul 27, 2007)

I think it varies by area but here, you take your physical address which is assigned by 911 and go to the post office and set that up as your rural route address. One note though, if you are on a dead end they will only deliver so far from the next to last box, so you may have to put your box up the road from where your place is located if you are a good distance from you closest neighbor.


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## olywa1978 (Aug 10, 2014)

Oh ok, so it doesn't sound like too much of a hassle to get this done then. When I get up there (er....DOWN there) I'll contact the local post office and go from there. The dirt road I will be on has another dirt road on one end and a highway on the other, so I figure I'll probably have a mail box grouped with other residents at the highway. Thanks for the tip! Mike


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

Post office is the place to start. They probably don't assign address but they for sure can tell you who does. But be prepared to wait. It took us about six months to get an address and we liven on a road where there were already several people living.


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## FakeMountainMan (Jul 9, 2014)

Post office tells us they won't deliver mail to us. Have a PO box in town so I usually only check my mail once or twice a week if I'm nearby.


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

You need a certificate of occupancy to receive mail in my area.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

First, please, put your location "Klamath County, Oregon" in the upper right under your join date. You should be tired of typing it by now. Plus there's a lot of information that's location specific and will help the rest of us here in replying to your questions. 

Here in AZ all you have to do is call the county, give them some basic information then they'll assign an address. Check with the post office to see if they deliver to your rural location. If not, get a PO Box. 

BTW: that'd be a legitimate way to visit your closest neighbor (referring to another of your threads)

The post office doesn't deliver where I live, but there are about 28 mailboxes about a mile away, so if I wanted, that's where I'd have to put mine. I have a PO Box as it's less expensive than having to replace it every summer due to juvenile vandals.


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

post office here as well


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Call 1-800-ASK -USPS and explain your question and concerns to the customer center representative . They will either be able to answer them or give you the contact number of the post office servicing the area to which you are moving to tell you how to get an address verification, 911/USPS address assignment and who you must contact.

When I moved here I called them to see what address options my property offered me for my business and they told me my property contained multiple distinct numerical addresses and gave me contact numbers of who to contact to activate the one nearest where my shop building was to be located if I didn't want to use my general property and home address.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

911 Center will assign or within reason allow you to pick the address.

Ask the Post Master where a good place for the Mailbox would be, in relation to the others in you area.

I am not sure if you must get permission of the land owner to erect the structure on his road frontage, or whether it is considered a right of way due to the road.


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## wyld thang (Nov 16, 2005)

look and see if your next neighbors have a mailbox. if not get a po box in town. mail theft is a huge problem when mailboxes are far away from their owners. When I lived in Oregon the nearest place to have a mailbox was two miles away, where I am in WA they are a mile away. PO box both places for me.

Locking mailboxes are no guarantee, some folks have fun with explosives. 

All that said, UPS and Fed Ex are really adventurous to where they'll deliver to your door. 

You're going to need a physical address anyway for your drivers license, they wont take a po box for residence.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

If you want to fly under the radar for a bit, ie the code enforcement officer, having your rural delivery set up might be a tip off. I don't know for sure, just being paranoid. If your mail is coming from the city of Klamath, they're big enough no one may notice. Might be worth the price of a PO Box.


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## copperkid3 (Mar 18, 2005)

When I wanted to build my dream home and needed a physical address,
it was provided by our electrical power company. They gave me a number
that at first didn't seem to be quite what I thought it should be and so I
tried to get them to change it to something closer to what appeared to be
more realistic. No dice. Received what *THEY *said it should be. 
So I've learned to live with it. Not that hard after all.

However, when I needed power, they dragged their feet for* OVER 6 months*;
claiming that I would need to place a power pole in a specified area that only
their engineer could/would decide. Couldn't be more than X number of feet from
their nearest transformer. Problem was, he wouldn't take may calls or return them.

Amazing how fast he got back with me when I called the state's Ombudsman to complain.
Less than 20 minutes after getting off the phone with them, the electrical engineer 
was calling me and nearly 'begging' to find out what it was that I wanted. 
Then he tried to do the old "bait and wait" trick, by suggesting that he 
might be able to, somehow manage to get out the following Monday....
but that he couldn't promise anything!!!
I then 'suggested' that he better get his butt in gear and get out to 
my place in the next half hour or I'd be re-ringing the Ombudsman, 
as I was getting rather tired of waiting for him to even return my calls 
for the past 6 months. Somehow....he managed to showed up on time......
but certainly wasn't happy about it. Can you believe it....this _*was*_ a large 'service' 
company and I've been battling them in one way, shape or another, ever since.

No love lost there by me. *IF* I could afford to go cold-turkey off *THEIR* grid, I would. 
But I can't - so guess it's a hate-hate relationship. Rural electrical co-ops in Oregon
are a different animal, or at least they were when I resided there for 6+ months while 
employed with the U.S. Forest Service. Was still receiving dividend checks from the 
one that I belonged to, for the next 10 or more years after having left the state!

And their rates were the cheapest in the country at the time!!!


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

olywa1978 said:


> I am new to these forums and am about to head to my new 2.3-acre undeveloped lot in S. Oregon in a couple weeks. It's going to be a rough start, showing up there so late in the year, so much to do before the snow starts falling and it gets cold. It's just my two dogs and I out there and I have a bunch of questions for you guys and I'll do my best to search for prior related threads first. I'll create a new thread for each question to make it easier for future newbies to find specific questions in the search.
> 
> First question is, how to I get a numerical address assigned to my undeveloped property and get mail service? Who do I contact and how much do I have to pay for this? I currently have a PO box in Washington and I could get another in Oregon, but I want to cut out as many monthly bills as I can, to lower the level of income needed to get my homestead off the ground. Thanks! Mike


Undeveloped lots in Klamath County don't get numerical addresses. You use township range section and tax lot information. It will be on your title or tax info. So if you will be developing your lot then go to Community Development and talk to Meryl and get a address number. I don't think he has retired but anyone there can help. Meryl is who I have worked with thru my job.

If you don't have a physical address you get a post office box. Though if you get a address you will have to find out if they deliver or not. Mailboxes are robbed daily though so prepare your mailbox accordingly.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

wyld thang said:


> look and see if your next neighbors have a mailbox. if not get a po box in town. mail theft is a huge problem when mailboxes are far away from their owners. When I lived in Oregon the nearest place to have a mailbox was two miles away, where I am in WA they are a mile away. PO box both places for me.
> 
> Locking mailboxes are no guarantee, some folks have fun with explosives.
> 
> ...


If your property is not considered developed in Klamath County you will not get a physical address. UPS or FEDEX Have a hard delivering anything without a address. Where I live in Klamath County, they will drop off at the local post office if you explain you don't have a address but to get that thru is tedious to say the least. I don't believe you can live for long on a vacant piece of property in the county.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

Rick said:


> 911 Center will assign or within reason allow you to pick the address.
> 
> Ask the Post Master where a good place for the Mailbox would be, in relation to the others in you area.
> 
> I am not sure if you must get permission of the land owner to erect the structure on his road frontage, or whether it is considered a right of way due to the road.


Not in Klamath County. It is done thru community development at 305 main st Klamath falls. They in turn provide to emergency services.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

olywa1978 said:


> Oh ok, so it doesn't sound like too much of a hassle to get this done then. When I get up there (er....DOWN there) I'll contact the local post office and go from there. The dirt road I will be on has another dirt road on one end and a highway on the other, so I figure I'll probably have a mail box grouped with other residents at the highway. Thanks for the tip! Mike


Either I missed it or.... But is your place developed? What will you living in? You will not be able to have a mailbox without a physical address. I explained how to check into that. If you plan on skirting codes and living in trailer or??? good luck. But you could get a post office but what happens when you need to renew licenses etc and you can't prove you live anywhere? Start by asking your questions at the correct places.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

Here I called the local post office and gae them the property ID # and they assigned an address. I also emailed the local county 911 and got them to confirm the address.


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## slingshot (Jun 25, 2014)

Ours was a phone call...

Once 911 have us the address, I put the box up, by USPS standards. They have instructions. Then I had to fill a new address form out and a week later started getting mail.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

Our 911 is not the place to get your address. Please note my comments. I live in the same county and work in and around this stuff. But go ahead and call them. LOL


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## ronbre (Apr 26, 2009)

should be free and from PO..also..pick up a box and post and put it on the correct side of the road for mail delivery in your area and within 6 or 10 feet of your drive that you'll access the mail from..in case there is free stuff being delivered in the area, we get a free newspaper on Mondays here...and they go to all the places that have boxes that don't subscribe to paper...in the country always oversize your box..and make sure it is set properly from road and correct height..po has that info.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

Echoesechos said:


> Our 911 is not the place to get your address. Please note my comments. I live in the same county and work in and around this stuff. But go ahead and call them. LOL


 Not the place to get it, but good idea for them to confirm just in case you need help. My lender required 911 confirm.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

po boy said:


> Not the place to get it, but good idea for them to confirm just in case you need help. My lender required 911 confirm.


They share here and fairly quickly. In a earlier post I explained how to start the process. Just trying to point and hopefully save some steps and effort. We are getting real close to having frost and/or freezing night time temps. He will be busy just getting ready for winter. Not being sure where he bought, he may be in a woodstove restrictions area or at the very least requiring certain kind of stoves. Hope not but his mileage quote from town he might just be. The basin suffers from inversions horribly during winter. And from smoke during wildfire season. 

And with fire restrictions in effect now he can't cut firewood on federal lands and could easily have time constraints on private lands in using his saw now too.


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## olywa1978 (Aug 10, 2014)

"If you want to fly under the radar for a bit, ie the code enforcement officer, having your rural delivery set up might be a tip off. I don't know for sure, just being paranoid. If your mail is coming from the city of Klamath, they're big enough no one may notice. Might be worth the price of a PO Box."

Vosey- that is a very good point. From my place it's about 30 miles to Klamath. It might be a drag to drive 60 miles just to check my mail lol! What's my priority, secrecy or gas/money/time? Hmm.


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## olywa1978 (Aug 10, 2014)

"Mailboxes are robbed daily though so prepare your mailbox accordingly. "

Yeah, this and vandalism are things I keep hearing a lot about. It is a 2-mile drive out to the highway where everyones mailboxes are located, so not exactly secure. I think I might just try for a PO Box if they give me one without a physical address or the "general delivery" option my neighbor told me about. Then again, someone mentioned me not being able to get a driver's license without a physical address. ----.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

olywa1978 said:


> It might be a drag to drive 60 miles just to check my mail lol! What's my priority, secrecy or gas/money/time? Hmm.


At first I went to town one a week, because it was so very quiet out here! I would get restless nd head on out even if I was not out of groceries, etc, yet.

If you also go once a week, piggyback all of the errands in one trip or the gas costs a lot. If you get the mail weekly then also get the groceries while you are in town and also get hit the library and so forth and so on. It's cheaper that way.


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## olywa1978 (Aug 10, 2014)

"They share here and fairly quickly. In a earlier post I explained how to start the process. Just trying to point and hopefully save some steps and effort. We are getting real close to having frost and/or freezing night time temps. He will be busy just getting ready for winter. Not being sure where he bought, he may be in a woodstove restrictions area or at the very least requiring certain kind of stoves. Hope not but his mileage quote from town he might just be. The basin suffers from inversions horribly during winter. And from smoke during wildfire season.

And with fire restrictions in effect now he can't cut firewood on federal lands and could easily have time constraints on private lands in using his saw now too."

Echoesechos- I'm a little wary of giving my exact location, since I trying to stay under radar until I feel I'm able to satisfy the demands and requirements of the land-use authorities, but I am about 5,000 in elevation in the Bonanza area. I've been warned about the winters, but I have no other place to go for hibernation, so I have to stay on my property and make it work. No time or money now to build a cabin, so I will be in a 1987 motorhome with my two big dogs. I have a 23,000 BTU kerosene heater and lots of warm clothing/bedding. I'm having delays in getting up the gas money and such to get everything moved down, but hopefully before snow starts falling. I'm going to try to get some work through the temp agencies here in Washington this week to get more money for gas to get down there, as well as food to last through winter. It's not ideal timing, but like I said, I have no where else to go. I've been couch-surfing while I work on this project, but I don't think that's an option for the entire winter.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

olywa1978 said:


> "They share here and fairly quickly. In a earlier post I explained how to start the process. Just trying to point and hopefully save some steps and effort. We are getting real close to having frost and/or freezing night time temps. He will be busy just getting ready for winter. Not being sure where he bought, he may be in a woodstove restrictions area or at the very least requiring certain kind of stoves. Hope not but his mileage quote from town he might just be. The basin suffers from inversions horribly during winter. And from smoke during wildfire season.
> 
> And with fire restrictions in effect now he can't cut firewood on federal lands and could easily have time constraints on private lands in using his saw now too."
> 
> Echoesechos- I'm a little wary of giving my exact location, since I trying to stay under radar until I feel I'm able to satisfy the demands and requirements of the land-use authorities, but I am about 5,000 in elevation in the Bonanza area. I've been warned about the winters, but I have no other place to go for hibernation, so I have to stay on my property and make it work. No time or money now to build a cabin, so I will be in a 1987 motorhome with my two big dogs. I have a 23,000 BTU kerosene heater and lots of warm clothing/bedding. I'm having delays in getting up the gas money and such to get everything moved down, but hopefully before snow starts falling. I'm going to try to get some work through the temp agencies here in Washington this week to get more money for gas to get down there, as well as food to last through winter. It's not ideal timing, but like I said, I have no where else to go. I've been couch-surfing while I work on this project, but I don't think that's an option for the entire winter.


I sure hope it works out for you. We quite often get Indian summer's but night time temps will still be cold. It was 32Â° this morning. I'm at 4600' so I feel your pain. You might see if you can acquire some straw bales to put around the base of your motor home so your pipes don't freeze. It's the outside pipe situation that will be critical. You might be able to get by for awhile with general delivery. There are lots of folks in the same boat. It is a pain to get licenses renewed, even to get any services. I know some folks have a hard asking for help but the Oregon trail program might be good place to help with the food situation. You don't want to be stuck without during winter.

I've been thinking about your fencing problem. Is it pumice rock or granite rock? Pumice can be whittled away but well granite.... where the pastures you mentioned, well it's why they are there. Not so many rocks. You'll think you've got all the rocks picked up and then winter comes and heaves more up. Vicious cycle. 

Watch for snakes. I read your area you posted. They are in your area. Have you seen the midge swarms around the lake? Kinda freaky, not real obvious but you will think the air is warping. It's just them. Keep them washed off your rig, noxious things and they will start smelling. They are unique to Klamath County. 

I'm thinking you might have to build your dog pen more or less freestanding with lumber. Have cross pieces running along the ground, center and top pieces then attach wire to that. Sorry I have no other suggestions. Remember Klamath has a extension service who might have some great ideas. Talk to Jed, he's really nice. They might have an area you can email your questions in too. 

As I said, good luck.


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## am1too (Dec 30, 2009)

littlebitfarm said:


> I went to my post office and asked for an address. Might give it a shot.


That's what I did. YOu might have to go to the nearest road and put up a box.


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## am1too (Dec 30, 2009)

watcher said:


> Post office is the place to start. They probably don't assign address but they for sure can tell you who does. But be prepared to wait. It took us about six months to get an address and we liven on a road where there were already several people living.


I got mine the next day with no physical contact. I put up a box and raised the flag with a note.


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## am1too (Dec 30, 2009)

Rick said:


> 911 Center will assign or within reason allow you to pick the address.
> 
> Ask the Post Master where a good place for the Mailbox would be, in relation to the others in you area.
> 
> I am not sure if you must get permission of the land owner to erect the structure on his road frontage, or whether it is considered a right of way due to the road.


How can the property owner refuse you the right of erecting a mail box on the right of way?


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## 92utownxj (Sep 13, 2013)

It sounds like it's been answered for where you are, but I'll tell you what I know for my area. I work for city government, and I'm the person who assigns all the addresses within the city limits. I then forward the address I assign to the Post Office, all utilities, and emergency services. The county also has a person who does the same thing. 

Addressing is not simple. I had no idea until I started doing it. Ranges, evens, odds, going from the center of the county, street names, directionals. If the wrong directional is given here, which happened not long because the person didn't know, emergencies services went in the opposite direction. It delayed the response by several minutes. We're still not sure how it happened now with GIS and GPS, but it did. 

Anyway, call your local government and they'll get you an address.


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## Rustaholic (Dec 1, 2007)

When I built here there already was a driveway because there had been a house trailer here for about 20 years and it burned down and was gone before I bought the property. Even though I had a driveway and a garage I still had to go to the road commission and pay $15 for a Driveway Permit and it came with a house number.


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## olywa1978 (Aug 10, 2014)

Thanks for all the great tips you guys! Next time I head down there I will talk to the post office about my options. I'm sure there has to be an easy way to get mail.


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## TraderBob (Oct 21, 2010)

To get an address before I started building was simple here.
I went to the Office of Emergency Management with my deed and description, to have a 911 address assigned. Since it was off what used to be a County road 20 yrs ago, they even let me rename the road. They assigned me an address, then submitted it to the Post Office while I was there, where it was accepted.

3 days later they had a County road sign placed off by the road....a day later it was stolen , which is fine by me.

I keep a box in town, about 20 miles away, so won't have delivery there of mail.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

am1too said:


> How can the property owner refuse you the right of erecting a mail box on the right of way?


Its his land he can give you that privilege or not, heck he can even charge for it!


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

olywa1978 said:


> No time or money now to build a cabin, so I will be in a 1987 motorhome with my two big dogs. I have a 23,000 BTU kerosene heater and lots of warm clothing/bedding.


If you are going to burn kerosene, please, please, please buy a carbon monoxide detector. Otherwise you might wake up dead one morning! I have a Corona DK2 heater in my cabin, and one night I woke up with an awful headache. I quickly turned off the stove and rushed outside to get fresh air.

I subsequenly purchased a battery powered carbon monoxide detector like this for 20$
http://www.homedepot.com/s/carbon%20monoxide%20detector?NCNI-5
When suspending my detector above the heater I saw measurable CO being produced. Typically I lit my heater outside, let it heat up for 5 minutes, then brought it in. I was using a new wick, and always made sure the burner had a blue flame, and I still detected measurable CO! I've since then installed my woodstoves in both the living room and kitchen, and haven't had to use the heater since.

Take this very seriously!


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## Wockitman (Aug 25, 2020)

olywa1978 said:


> I am new to these forums and am about to head to my new 2.3-acre undeveloped lot in S. Oregon in a couple weeks. It's going to be a rough start, showing up there so late in the year, so much to do before the snow starts falling and it gets cold. It's just my two dogs and I out there and I have a bunch of questions for you guys and I'll do my best to search for prior related threads first. I'll create a new thread for each question to make it easier for future newbies to find specific questions in the search.
> 
> First question is, how to I get a numerical address assigned to my undeveloped property and get mail service? Who do I contact and how much do I have to pay for this? I currently have a PO box in Washington and I could get another in Oregon, but I want to cut out as many monthly bills as I can, to lower the level of income needed to get my homestead off the ground. Thanks! Mike


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