October 4th, 2025

This year we celebrate 250 years of mail service in our country.  Begun under our first postmaster, Benjamin Franklin, it was the genesis of the mail system we know today.  In earlier times, people in the first colonies depended on friends, merchants, and Native Americans to carry messages within our newly forming country. 

Before the postal system, most correspondence ran between the colonies and their mother countries, duplicating the European system of designating coffee houses and taverns for distribution of mail.  In fact, Boston had the first official repository for letters brought from or sent across the sea at the Richard Fairbanks tavern as early as 1639. 

Today’s system of posting letters developed gradually.  The Post Office Department didn’t issue its first postage stamps until July 1, 1847.  Before this, letters were taken to a Post Office, where the postmaster would note the postage in the upper right corner. The cost of mailing was based on the number of sheets in the letter and the distance it would travel. Postage could be paid in advance by the writer, collected from the addressee on delivery, or paid partially in advance and partially upon delivery.

The first American postage stamps as we know them were priced at 5 cents, depicting Benjamin Franklin and a 10-cent stamp, picturing George Washington. Clerks used scissors to cut the stamps from pregummed, nonperforated sheets. In1856, a 5-cent stamp honoring Thomas Jefferson was issued and a 2-cent Andrew Jackson stamp was added in 1863. George Washington has appeared on more U.S. postage stamps than any other person.

Before 1863, postage paid only for the delivery of mail from Post Office to Post Office. Most people picked up their mail, although in some cities an extra two-cent fee would cover the cost for home delivery. 

In the late 19th century, free home delivery of mail was introduced — first in cities, then in rural areas — and letter carriers became familiar, trusted visitors to homes and businesses across the country.  For the first time, Americans had to put street addresses on their letters.

While people once maintained a list of mailing addresses for family and friends, this habit has become less common with the advent of social media that employs email addresses and phone numbers as contact information.  Coupled with the greater mobility of our population, sometimes the lack of home addresses is a challenge to potential letter writers.  No wonder it is a surprise to receive a handwritten personal missive in your mailbox.  We invite you to celebrate our nation’s 250 years of posting mail by writing a letter to a loved one or friend.  And, if you forget to bring along the address, we’ll help you search for a mailing address as part of our complimentary service in honor of letters and writing.  

For more information on the American history of the U.S. Postal Service, visit: https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100.pdf 

[updated 20250928so]