Old ZIP codes

The place file (posted 2014 Dec 25) contains 119,980 unique 49-character records in the following format:

Field Size 

----- ---- 

ZIP   5    ZIP code 

PLACE 28   Name associated with the ZIP

STATE 2    State where PLACE is located

FROM  6    Year-month (YYYYMM) the PLACE was first associated with the ZIP

TO    6    Year-month (YYYYMM) the PLACE was last associated with the ZIP

CR    1    Carriage return

LF    1    Line feed 

For a given date range in a record, the PLACE as listed was associated with that ZIP code. Outside the date range either no data is available, or the PLACE or STATE fields changed as indicated by some other record, or the ZIP code was not assigned and no other record applies.

Data before October 1989 and after December 2014 are not available, so the proper content of records before and after those dates can't be reliably determined. WARNING: ZIP data changes monthly, and official ZIP records include additional important flags not listed here. WARNING: Determining the proper ZIP for a city, or vice versa, requires considering the address.

Records with Yellow (Y) dates are probably correct but may be wrong by a month or two. Green (G) dates are accurate. No data is available for Red (R) months, so they are never used as beginning or ending dates, and date ranges assume data did not change in those months.