Post Offices

History

Transcribed by : Tina Easley

copyrighted2003@Tina Easley

Before 1837 the Post Office Department had no official map maker and purchased its maps from commercial firms or private individuals. On March 13, 1837, Henry A. Burr was appointed the first Topographer of the Post Office. He began preparing maps for the use of postal officials. In 1862 Postmaster General Montgomery Blair directed the Topographer to prepare a comprehensive set of postal maps for the sale to the public. Maps of States, or groups of States, were to be continually updated by the Topographer's Office. Later, similar maps were prepared for territories and possessions. On January 3, 1855, the Postmaster General ordered the end of sales of postal route maps and eliminated the need to accumulate reports on postal office site locations.

These records are chiefly forms on which postmasters furnished data that were used by the Topographer to determine the location of post offices in relation to nearby post offices and transportation routes and facilities. The reports do not show the exact locations of post offices (except for some in the 1940's, which gave street addresses), nor do they include information about the buildings in which post offices were housed or operated. The reports constituted an important part of the procedure for establishing new post offices. Generally the Appointment Division of the First Assistant Postmaster General's Office sent a site-location report form to the postmaster nearest the proposed post office for completion. During the latter part of the 19th century, reports on prospective post offices employed forms that included more items of information than appeared on the forms used for reporting changes of site. Sometimes this first site location report shows the names proposed by local citizens for that post office.

As the Topographer's requirements for geographical information became more sophisticated, the report form was altered to request additional data. Although, over the years, site location reports changed in format, most requested the following information about a post office: (1) county and State (or Territory); (2) land description used by the Federal survey system (range, township, and section), if applicate; (3) mail route number and distance from the post office to the nearest mail route; and (4) the closest rivers, creeks, canals, roads, and railroads. Most reports also include a diagram or sketch map compiled by the postmaster or a printed map annotated by him to show the location of the post office. Some reports also give the name of the contractor for the mail route. The form used in reporting on a prospective post office requested information about the number of families or the number of people that would be served by the post office. Occasionally, when there were insufficient data in the files for proper delineation of a post office on a postal route map, the Topographer's Office queried a postmaster. Some of the records are merely replies to inquiries about the name of the county seat, the location of a landmark, information about mail routes, or other data that were needed by the Topographer.