Correos de Costa Rica
Encyclopedia
History
The establishment of Correos de Costa Rica gains momentum with the Costa Rican constitution of 1824, which mandates that the Congress of the Republic must open roads and carry posts and general mail. On December 10, 1839, via government decree the first rulebook for mail is drafted and the “Servicio Nacional de Correos” is created.The first emission of postage stamps was done in 1862, a year later Costa Rica attends the Postal Congress in Paris, the only Latin-American country to attend the event. In August 1883 Costa Rica subscribes to the Universal Postal Union
Universal Postal Union
The Universal Postal Union is an international organization that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system. The UPU contains four bodies consisting of the Congress, the Council of Administration , the Postal Operations Council and the...
. In 1922 the country joins Unión Postal Panamericana, integrated by Spain, Portugal, and various Latin-American countries.
On March 23, 1868, during the government of Jesús Jiménez Zamora
Jesús Jiménez Zamora
Jesús María Ciriaco Jiménez Zamora was President of Costa Rica on two occasions:1863 to 1866, and 1868 to 1870.He was popularly elected in 1863, but dissolved Congress two months into his term of office. During his presidency he granted asylum to former Salvadoran President Gen...
, a contract is subscribed between the Secretaría de Fomento and Lyman Reynold with the intent of setting up a telegraphic connection in Cartago, San José, Heredia, Alajuela and Puntarenas. This project was concluded by the government in 1869, due to the resignation of the contractor. Telegraphy based in the Morse system ceased operating in 1970, and was substituted with the teletype or telex system
Teleprinter
A teleprinter is a electromechanical typewriter that can be used to communicate typed messages from point to point and point to multipoint over a variety of communication channels that range from a simple electrical connection, such as a pair of wires, to the use of radio and microwave as the...
.
Law number 7768, of April 24, 1988, transformed the institution into what is now known as Correos de Costa Rica S.A. a public company structured as a for-profit enterprise, not dependent on the central government.
The downtown building of Correos de Costa Rica, was built in 1917. It was built by The English Construction C.O. Ltda. It was declared as a Valuable Historical Building on October 14, 1980. It also houses the Museo Filatélico de Costa Rica (Philatelic Museum).