White Lake mail customers who receive their mail at the Post Office in Town Hall will now have to use a new address.

Mayor Goldston Womble said post office box holders must now use the street address for the Town Hall in addition to adding the letters PMB in front of their box number. The town name is still White Lake and the zip code has not changed.

For example, if a resident's post office box is number 2000, their new address is 1879 White Lake Dr. PMB 2000, White Lake, N.C. 28337. Simply using the name, P.O. box number, town and zip code no longer works.

"It's inconvenient as everything," Womble said.

The U.S. Postal Service turned over operation of the White Lake Facility to the town last month. The USPS told the town the facility was not profitable enough to maintain.

Rather than close the only mail service between Garland and Elizabethtown, the town purchased the post office boxes from the Postal Service and is running the operation as a branch of the town.

White Lake was a satellite to the Elizabethtown U.S. Post Office. White Lake officials have been trying to foir years to get USPS authorities to give White Lake its own zip code.

Womble said the USPS didn't tell the town about the address change until just before the town took over operations.

"This just kind of came out of the clear blue," he said. "We're a little worried it might affect box rentals, since the address is so cumbersome."

"We're not that worried about it making a profit," Womble said, "but we do expect it to break even."

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