History of the American Post Office
The history of the Post Office dates back to 1660 when it was established by Charles II. Un- der the guise of the General Post Office (GPO), it soon grew as an important organization integral within the infrastructure of England during the seventeenth century. It gained prominence in North America on July 26, 1775, when the U.S. postal system was established by the Second Continental Congress. Benjamin Franklin served as its first postmaster general having gained initial experience as a postmaster general for the crown years earlier. Franklin put in place the foundation of the modern mail system during his tenure as postmaster establishing regular mail delivery in accordance with posted times. His contribution led to colonial posts in North America making their first profit in 1760.
Franklin streamlined postal delivery with properly surveyed and marked routes from Maine to Florida that later became U.S. High-way 1. He instituted overnight postal travel between New York and Philadelphia and established a standardized rate chart based upon weight and distance. Post riders carried mail at night to speed service between Philadelphia and New York.
On February 20, 1792, President George Washington officiated legislation renewing the United States Post Office as a cabinet department led by the postmaster general, guaranteeing inexpensive delivery of all newspapers, stipulating the right to privacy and granting Congress the ability to expand postal service to new areas of the nation.
Postal boxes became popular in the 19th century. Originally referred to as collection boxes, they appeared in New York City in 1833. The use of boxes for the deposit of outgoing U.S. Mail began with the penny post system of letter delivery in cities. In 1833, New York City’s letter carriers placed boxes along their delivery routes. The carriers collected letters from the boxes “every day (except Sundays) at one o’clock” and took them to the Post Office for a fee of two cents each. By the 1850s they were seen on the streets of American cities attached to lampposts or buildings. In the 1890s, larger, free-standing “package boxes” were introduced nationwide, which evolved into today’s standard collection box.
Other postal innovations included postal money order service in 1864 which was originally intended to allow soldiers to send money home along with international money orders in 1867. Postcards were introduced into the postal system in 1873. The rate for sending one was a penny. Special delivery was introduced in 1885 and later parcel post which included collect on delivery (COD) and insurances services in 1913; and certified mail in 1955, which provides proof of posting for items without intrinsic value.
Christmas Cards were seldom sent prior to their printing in the United States in the 1870s. They became more affordable the following decade as the nation’s economic for- tunes improved. In the early 1900s the Post Office Department began planning for extra facilities, equipment, and personnel to cope with the holiday rush. The Department also began launching annual “Mail Early” campaigns, encouraging the public not to wait until the last minute to send their holiday mail.
At present, the United States has 31,488 post offices and the postal service delivers more than 200 billion pieces of mail each year to over 144 million homes and businesses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, the American Virgin Islands and American Samoa. The postal service is the nation’s largest civilian employer, with roughly 500,000 career workers. The postal ser- vice is a not-for-profit, self-supporting agency that covers the majority of its expenses through postage stamps. General postage stamp usage in the United States dates back to 1847. The Post Office Department issued its first Christ- mas-themed postage stamps in 1962. Other commemorative stamps followed including those from a variety of topics including space exploration, wildlife, music and art history.
Pioneer Village now hosts a new exhibit showcasing the American post office through time. This includes an assortment of post office boxes from Old Fort Kearney circa 1860, post stamp dispensers, postal scales and more. An extensive post card collection can also be found inside the exhibit dating back to the turn of the century. Expect the museum’s post office exhibit to expand in the future with new items to further generate interests among museum visitors.
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