USPS mailing options at the Goodnow Flow and Newcomb NY
There is a US post office in Newcomb open noon to 4 pm weekdays, 9 am to 12:30 pm on Saturdays (last mail collection 4 pm weekdays, noon on Saturdays). It’s signed up, a bit before the Hudson bridge on 28N coming in from Minerva. There is mail delivery in town but not out at the Goodnow Flow. If you want service and the assorted town fliers while at the Flow, then ask about a free mailbox which is offered as an alternative (accessible 8 am to 5 pm weekday, on Saturdays 9 am to 12:30). Once a year they leave you a form to fill out confirming you have a local property that doesn’t have delivery service. USPS will do ‘return to sender’ for mail sent to a Flow street address (except that actually there is a good chance it will get diverted to your PO box even if the box number is not in the mailpiece label). Normal years, consider picking up stamps and similar at the Newcomb post office: the location is perennially on trimming lists and it helps to keep the transactions up. However – see the note below relating to package deliveries.
UPS at the Flow
Make a UPS “my choice” profile that is specific for your cabin, additional to any for your main home. The nearest UPS store is in Lake Placid, there is a drop off site at Advance Auto Part in Saranac Lake and a dropbox at Gillis Realty in Tupper Lake. You might look at the UPS pick up option – the fee is not that much more than gas money for a deliberate trip and its probably cheaper on balance if you value your time. Of course, you could save the package for a trip down to Glens Falls.
FedEx in Newcomb NY
Shipping via FedEx looks to be similar to UPS with no truly local drop-off point, though Walgreens acts as an agent (try N. Creek for the nearest) and there are FedEx stores inside some Walmart stores. Their delivery at the Flow may be more iffy than that of UPS. Again make a profile that is specific to your Flow address and add delivery details etc. For access to some FedEx delivery options you need to have them mail you a confirming code so think about getting a PO box first!
Amazon etc Flow shipping addresses
USPS says you need a PO box for mail at the Flow – but be aware that those alternative shippers (FedEx & UPS) need a street address. For sellers like Amazon – folk polled on Facebook are either just putting their street address as the shipping address or are doing a combo including the PO box as well:
J. Doe, YYYY Goodnow Flow Road, Box XXXX, Newcomb, NY 12852 (I found Amazon would not use a version where I entered PO Box). One might avoid some Kafkaesque scenarios by including the PO box number – like cases where FedEx/UPS use SmartPost, send the item to USPS for ‘last mile’ delivery and USPS does return to sender ‘cos they don’t deliver to the Flow.
There was yet another patronizing posting on the physical noticeboard instructing folks that they are idiots to have mail sent to a Flow street address (it doesn’t seem to have been really written by USPS) ….. the reality to me is that there are a bunch of ways that things can go wrong with mail & deliveries and the USPS worldview is pretty myopic. If you’ve done things like get a PO box then Sure/Smart post by UPS and FedEx are going to be your biggest source of surprise problems.
I see a comment in a message board for Amazon sellers ‘We use stamps.com . While we are downloading the addresses, stamps.com tells us what addresses cannot be delivered via USPS’. So you have some cover if a seller tries to prep an item for USPS mail using your Flow Street address. I don’t know if that works if the seller walks into a Post Office with a package.
Amazon are back to doing some next day deliveries in my area, I noticed on an order for my cabin (weather band radio) that it would be next day at home (via their truck) but around 5 days later at the cabin (routing to UPS) – something to check when selecting a delivery option related to a future camp visit.