HISTORY OF STATE ABBREVIATIONS
The U.S. Post Office made several revisions in preferred abbreviations for states and territories. The table below
shows the history of state postal abbreviations from 1831 to the present:
STATE
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
1831
Al.
--Ar. T.
--Ct.
De.
D. C.
Fl. T.
Ga.
--Il.
Ia.
--Ky.
La.
Me.
Md.
Ms.
Mic. T.
-Mi.
Mo.
---N. H.
N. J.
-N. Y.
N. C.
-O.
--Pa.
-R. I.
S. C.
-Te.
--Vt.
Va.
-----
1874
Ala.
Alaska
Ariz.
Ark.
Cal.
Colo.
Conn.
Del.
D. C.
Fla.
Ga.
-Idaho
Ill.
Ind.
Iowa
Kans.
Ky.
La.
Me.
Md.
Mass.
Mich.
Minn.
Miss.
Mo.
Mont.
Nebr.
Nev.
N. H.
N. J.
N. Mex.
N. Y.
N. C.
-Ohio
-Oreg.
Pa.
-R. I.
S. C.
-Tenn.
Tex.
Utah
Vt.
Va.
Wash.
W. Va.
Wis.
Wyo.
1943
Ala.
Alaska
Ariz.
Ark.
Calif.
Colo.
Conn.
Del.
D. C.
Fla.
Ga.
Hawaii
Idaho
Ill.
Ind.
Iowa
Kans.
Ky.
La.
Maine
Md.
Mass.
Mich.
Minn.
Miss.
Mo.
Mont.
Nebr.
Nev.
N. H.
N. J.
N. Mex.
N. Y.
N. C.
N. Dak.
Ohio
Okla.
Oreg.
Pa.
P. R.
R. I.
S. C.
S. Dak.
Tenn.
Tex.
Utah
Vt.
Va.
Wash.
W. Va.
Wis.
Wyo.
6/1963
ALA
ALSK
ARIZ
ARK
CALIF
COL
CONN
DEL
DC
FLA
GA
HAW
IDA
ILL
IND
IOWA
KANS
KY
LA
ME
MD
MASS
MICH
MINN
MISS
MO
MONT
NEB
NEV
NH
NJ
NM
NY
NC
ND
OHIO
OKLA
ORE
PA
PR
RI
SC
SD
TENN
TEX
UTAH
VT
VA
WASH
W VA
WIS
WYO
10/1963
AL
AK
AZ
AR
CA
CO
CT
DE
DC
FL
GA
HI
ID
IL
IN
IA
KS
KY
LA
ME
MD
MA
MI
MN
MS
MO
MT
NB
NV
NH
NJ
NM
NY
NC
ND
OH
OK
OR
PA
PR
RI
SC
SD
TN
TX
UT
VT
VA
WA
WV
WI
WY
AL
AK
AZ
AR
CA
CO
CT
DE
DC
FL
GA
HI
ID
IL
IN
IA
KS
KY
LA
ME
MD
MA
MI
MN
MS
MO
MT
NE
NV
NH
NJ
NM
NY
NC
ND
OH
OK
OR
PA
PR
RI
SC
SD
TN
TX
UT
VT
VA
WA
WV
WI
WY
1969
Peacock Data  California, USA  800-609-9231  www.peacockdata.com  For us it’s the service AFTER the sale that counts!
History of State Abbreviations
2
Sources include, 1831, Table of Post Offices in the United States; 1874 and 1943, United States Official Postal Guide; 6/1963, Postal Bulletin
20368; 10/1963, Post Office Department Publication 59, Abbreviations for Use with ZIP Codes; 1969, at the request of the Canadian postal
administration, the abbreviation for Nebraska, originally “NB”, was changed to “NE”, to avoid confusion with New Brunswick in Canada.
HISTORICAL NOTES
Until 1963 the (then called) U.S. Post Office preferred the state and territorial names be written out in full to avoid
confusion, but accepted the popular public practice of abbreviation. The Post Office published lists of preferred
state abbreviations in the 1831 Table of Post Offices in the United States and in the United States Official Postal
Guide, first published in 1874. Most of the preferred abbreviations in 1874 remained the same for nearly the next
90 years.
When the Post Office implemented the 5-digit ZIP Code in 1963, which was placed after the state name in the last
line of an address, to provide room for the new code in the address line, the department also published an initial
list of state abbreviations in the June 27, 1963 issue of the Postal Bulletin. Many of these initial abbreviations
consisted of four letters.
Four months later, in October 1963, the Post Office published the now-familiar list of two-letter state
abbreviations in Publication 59, Abbreviations for Use with ZIP Codes. Implementation was gradual; initially they
were intended for optional use only by large business mailers in conjunction with ZIP Codes.
To date, only one change has been made to the abbreviations issued in October 1963. In November 1969, at the
request of the Canadian postal administration, the abbreviation for Nebraska, originally “NB”, was changed to
“NE”, to avoid confusion with New Brunswick in Canada.
Peacock Data  California, USA  800-609-9231  www.peacockdata.com  For us it’s the service AFTER the sale that counts!