Publication 119 - Sources of Historical Information on Post Offices, Postal Employees, Mail Routes, and Mail Contractors

Sources of Historical Information 1

United StateS PoStal Service®

Sources of

Historical

Information

on Post Ofﬁces,

Postal Employees,

Mail Routes, and

Mail Contractors

Publication 119

October 2011

Sources of

Historical

Information

on Post Ofﬁces,

Postal Employees,

Mail Routes, and

Mail Contractors

Publication 119

October 2011

he Postal Service shall have as its basic

function the obligation to provide postal

services to bind the Nation together

through the personal, educational, literary, and

business correspondence of the people. It shall

provide prompt, reliable, and efﬁcient services to

patrons in all areas and shall render postal services

to all communities.

—Title 39, United States Code, Section 101

The history of the United States Postal Service

is one of innovation and adaptation—from the

ﬁrst use of railroads to carry the mail in the

1830s, to online stamp sales in 1997, to new

developments in the 21st century. Within the

history of the Postal Service lies the history of

the nation as a whole, as mail routes and Post

Ofﬁces

™

spread westward, keeping the growing

nation connected.

Historians, postmasters, genealogists, and

others who want to learn more about the

history of their communities will discover

valuable sources of historical information on

Post Ofﬁces, postal employees, mail routes,

and mail contractors in this publication.

Sources are listed chronologically and then

discussed by subject. Following that, they are

described in alphabetical order. The ﬁnal pages

list addresses for these resources and provide

further references.

Sources of Historical Information 3

Sources Chronologically

1700s– Newspapers, city directories

1773–1774 Hugh Finlay’s journal

1775–1778 Benjamin Franklin’s ledger

1782–1799 Ledgers of the General Post Ofﬁce

1789–1818 Record of First Returns Received

from Postmasters

1789–1952 Letters Sent by the Postmaster

General

1789– Annual Report of the Postmaster

General

1789– Congressional Serial Set

1789– Federal Statutes

1790–1930 Census records

1803– Lists, tables, and directories of

Post Ofﬁces

1814–1960 Contract route registers

1814–1971 Record of Appointment of

Postmasters

1816–1911 Ofﬁcial Register of the United

States

1830s–1940s Post route maps

1835–1953 Orders of the Postmaster General

(“Journals”)

1837–1950 Site location reports of Post

Ofﬁces

1861–1865 Confederate Post Ofﬁce

Department records

1863–ca. 1900 Record Cards of Letter Carriers

Separated from the Postal Service

1874–1954 United States Ofﬁcial Postal

Guide

1880– Postal Bulletin (Daily Bulletin

prior to 1919)

1890s–1986 Record cards of postmaster

appointments

1896–1970s Rural route cards

1901–1934 Rural free delivery records

ca. 1901– Pay and personnel records

1986– Postmaster Finder

4 Publication 119

Sources by Subject

Post Ofﬁces and Employees

or information on Post Ofﬁces and

postmasters before 1814, major sources

include:

■ Record of First Returns Received from

Postmasters.

■ Letters Sent by the Postmaster General.

■ Hugh Finlay’s journal, a survey of post

roads.

■ Benjamin Franklin’s ledger.

■ Newspapers.

For information after 1814, the primary source

is the Record of Appointment of Postmasters.

For concise listings of Post Ofﬁces by state and

alphabetically, sources include the lists, tables,

and directories of Post Ofﬁces, as well as the

United States Ofﬁcial Postal Guide and Ofﬁcial

For postmaster salary information and lists

of other Post Ofﬁce employees, refer to the

Ofﬁcial Register of the United States.

Pay and personnel records may be available for

employees whose service ended after

about 1901.

Site location reports of Post Ofﬁces provide

geographic and other information on speciﬁc

Post Ofﬁces.

Mail Routes and Contractors

For information on mail contracts and

contractors before 1814, sources include:

■ Letters Sent by the Postmaster General.

■ Hugh Finlay’s journal.

■ Newspapers.

Contract route registers are available beginning

in 1814.

Sources of Historical Information 5

Names and salaries of contractors are listed in

the biennial Ofﬁcial Register of the United States.

Rural route cards provide rural route

establishment dates, as well as the names,

dates of service, and salaries of rural carriers.

The historian of the United States Postal

Service has compiled tables showing ﬁrst rural

routes established, by Post Ofﬁce, through

1904, from issues of the Postal Bulletin and the

1901 Annual Report. These tables are available

at http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-

history/ﬁrst-rural-routes.htm.

Names and salaries of rural and city carriers

are listed in the biennial Ofﬁcial Register of the

United States.

Dates of service of city carriers whose service

ended before about 1900 are available in Record

Cards of Letter Carriers Separated from the Postal

Service, 1863-1899.

Pay and personnel records may be available

for rural and city carriers whose service ended

after about 1901.

Sources Alphabetically

Annual Report of the Postmaster

General, 1789–

arly editions of the Annual Report

(title varies slightly) offer only brief

summaries of a few pages each on mail

service nationwide, but by the 1840s the

report begins to include statistical tables on

everything from missent mail (by state) to

international money orders issued (by state).

Although the subjects of the statistical tables

vary year by year, the following remain fairly

constant (year of ﬁrst appearance given in

parentheses):

■ The lengths of mail routes and modes of

conveyance, by state (1836).

■ Railroad and steamboat contracts (1843 and

1845, respectively).

6 Publication 119

■ The number of Post Ofﬁces by state (1847).

■ Receipts/expenses by state (1851).

■ Statistics on city delivery (1873).

■ Establishment dates of rural free delivery, by

Post Ofﬁce (1897–1901).

More detailed ﬁnancial statistics are often

available on the largest U.S. Post Ofﬁces—

for example, receipts, expenses, and money

allowed for clerk hire and rent, light, and

fuel. The 1970 Annual Report has a statistical

overview of the history of the Post Ofﬁce

Department from 1789 to 1970, such as

number of Post Ofﬁces and revenue. In 1971,

the report reverts to a limited format, with

statistics available for the most part on only a

national basis.

PDF copies of many 19th-century editions of

the Annual Report are available for free online

via Google Books at http://books.google.com.

PDF copies of the Annual Report since 2001

are available on the Postal Service’s Web site

at http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/ﬁnancials/

welcome.htm. Selected editions of the Annual

Report may also be available from your local

library through inter-library loan.

Benjamin Franklin’s Ledger,

1775–1778

Benjamin Franklin was appointed the ﬁrst

Postmaster General

™

under the Continental

Congress on July 26, 1775. He and his

successor, Richard Bache, kept a ledger of the

quarterly accounts of the General Post Ofﬁce

from 1775 to 1778. This ledger includes sums

paid to and received from Post Ofﬁces—

serving as a useful list of early Post Ofﬁces—

with postmaster names sometimes noted.

A facsimile of the original ledger was

reproduced in 1976 as The Ledger of Doctor

Benjamin Franklin, Postmaster General, 1776, by

the Historic Documents Publishing Company

in Vineland, New Jersey. A PDF copy is

available for free at www.archive.org. This book

Sources of Historical Information 7

may also be available from your local library

through inter-library loan.

Census Records, 1790–1930

Federal census records are available for every

10 years from 1790 through 1930, though

most of the 1890 records were destroyed

by ﬁre. Records before 1850 contain little

information beyond the name of the head of

household. Beginning in 1850, the records list

every household member by name, along with

their age, occupation, and other information.

The records are arranged by state and county,

then by township or enumeration district,

and then by household in the order visited

by census takers. For information available by

year, see “Availability of Census Records About

Individuals” by the U.S. Census Bureau at

www.census.gov/prod/2000pubs/cff-2.pdf.

Census records through 1930 are available

on microﬁlm from the National Archives.

Statewide indexes are useful for locating

individuals in the microﬁlm records. Census

records through 1930 have been digitized by

Ancestry.com and HeritageQuest.com, making

it possible to search for individuals by name

only. Access to the records on these Web sites is

available by subscription, and free-of-charge at

some public libraries.

City Directories, 1700s–

Several of the largest U.S. cities had city

directories by the end of the 1700s. By 1861,

directories were printed in more than 80

cities. These directories list businesses, public

and private institutions, residents and their

addresses, and often contain detailed city maps.

Occupation and race of residents are often

noted in directories in the 19th century. City

directories usually contain a separate section

on the Post Ofﬁce, listing the address and the

name of the postmaster, and sometimes every

employee, Post Ofﬁce hours and mail schedule,

and postal rates and regulations.

8 Publication 119

Directories through 1960 have been reproduced

by Primary Source Microﬁlm as City Directories

of the United States, and may be available from

your local library through inter-library loan.

Libraries, historical societies and state archives

may have copies of local city directories. A list

of directories beginning with 1861 is available

at www.loc.gov/rr/microform/uscity.

Confederate Post Ofﬁce Department

Records, 1861–1865

Surviving records of the Confederate

Post Ofﬁce Department are located at

the National Archives and at the Library

of Congress.

Records at the National Archives include:

■ A list of Post Ofﬁce establishments,

discontinuances, and name changes in

the Confederate states beginning in 1861

(undated).

■ A register of accounts, 1864 to 1865, for

Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, listing name

of Post Ofﬁce, county/state, and receipts.

■ An undated list of Kentucky Post Ofﬁces, by

county.

■ Confederate records on mail contracts

and routes in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,

Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North

Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,

and Virginia.

Confederate Post Ofﬁce Department records

at the National Archives are part of the War

Department Collection of Confederate Records,

Record Group 109.

Records at the Library of Congress include:

■ An Appointment Bureau list of Post

Ofﬁces, 1861 to 1865, with establishments,

discontinuances, and name changes noted,

along with names of postmasters and

appointment dates, for Arkansas, Louisiana,

and Texas.

Sources of Historical Information 9

■ A register of accounts for the quarter

ending March 31, 1862, for Arkansas,

Florida, Tennessee, and Texas (includes Post

Ofﬁce and postmaster name and ﬁnancial

information on the ofﬁce—sometimes

incomplete).

■ An Appointment Bureau list, 1861 to 1865,

in no discernable order, of postmasters

appointed in Arkansas, Indian Territory,

Louisiana, and Texas (provides dates of

appointment, bond and commission of the

postmaster, the name and reason for leaving

of the previous postmaster, the county of

location, sureties’ names, and miscellaneous

remarks).

■ Journal and Orders of the postmaster general

(contains lists of hundreds of postmaster

appointments in the summer of 1861).

■ Letters sent by the postmaster general, 1861

to 1862 (contain occasional references to

postmaster appointments).

■ Appointment Bureau letters sent, 1861

to 1865, partially indexed through

November 4, 1863.

■ Letters sent by the Contract Bureau,

1861 to 1864, mainly to contractors

and postmasters, which are indexed by

recipient or Post Ofﬁce name and provide

details on mail service.

■ Confederate records on mail contracts and

routes in the states of Mississippi

and Virginia.

Confederate postal records at the Library of

Congress are in the Manuscript Division as

part of the Records of the Confederate States

of America and have been reproduced on

microﬁlm, which may be available from your

local library through inter-library loan.

Congressional Serial Set, 1789–

From about 1817 to 1890, the Serial Set

contains records of mail contract routes (also

called “star routes”). Reports show the termini

10 Publication 119

of the routes, the names of the contractors

selected, and other information. General

indexes to the Serial Set provide the years and

volume numbers of mail route records, but

they contain few references to speciﬁc mail

routes.

The congressional Serial Set is generally

available in federal depository libraries.

Contract Route Registers, 1814–1960

Registers of contract routes (also called “star

routes”) from 1814 to 1817, in 1824, from 1828

to 1870, and from 1917 to 1960 (years vary by

state) usually list names of stops along routes,

names of bidders for the contracts, frequency

of service, distances involved, and modes of

transportation. They generally do not show the

names of subcontractors or carriers employed

by the contractors. In some time periods, there

are indexes to mail routes by Post Ofﬁce.

Route 65112, Snyder to Stoneham, Colorado, as recorded in

contract route register in 1918.

Sources of Historical Information 11

Contract route registers are located at the

National Archives as part of the Records

of the Post Ofﬁce Department, Record

Group 28.

Federal Statutes, 1789–

In 1792, the Statutes begin to list post roads

established and discontinued by Congress,

with stops on the routes noted. While there is

a general index by subject (“post roads”), there

is no index by Post Ofﬁce.

Federal Statutes are available online in

digitized format via the subscription database

HeinOnline at http://home.heinonline.org. They

may also be available at your local library.

Hugh Finlay’s Journal, 1773–1774

Hugh Finlay was appointed surveyor of post

roads by the British postmaster general in

1772. He kept a journal from September 13,

1773, to May 24, 1774, in which he described

in rich detail the Post Ofﬁces, postmasters, and

mail routes he encountered in his journeys

through New England and the South. Finlay

also included a description of his travels

through Quebec and touched on mail service

in the cities of New York and Philadelphia.

The journal was originally typeset and printed

in 1867; a PDF copy is available for free at

www.archive.org. In 1975 the journal was

reprinted by the U.S. Philatelic Classics

Society as The Hugh Finlay Journal: Colonial

Postal History 1773–1774. This edition may be

available from your local library through inter-

library loan.

Ledgers of the General Post Ofﬁce,

1782–1799

The Ledgers of the General Post Ofﬁce contain

the quarterly accounts of the General Post

Ofﬁce. These accounts include mail contractor

names, their routes, and sums paid, and an

alphabetical listing of Post Ofﬁces, including

the postmaster’s name, letter and newspaper

12 Publication 119

postage collected and the postmaster’s

commissions on the same, and sums paid for

ship letters.

The Ledgers of the General Post Ofﬁce are

located at the National Archives as part of the

Records of the Post Ofﬁce Department, Record

Group 28.

Letters Sent by the Postmaster

General, 1789–1952

The earliest letters sent by the Postmaster

General, between October 3, 1789,

and December 31, 1836, are arranged

chronologically in 50 volumes with an index

of names of addressees. The letters reference

speciﬁc Post Ofﬁces, postmasters, and mail

contracts, and discuss mail transportation,

postal laws and regulations, and budgetary

matters, among other things.

These volumes have been reproduced as

National Archives Microﬁlm Publication 601,

Letters Sent by the Postmaster General,

1789–1836, which is available for purchase

from the National Archives and may be

available from your local library through

inter-library loan.

Lists, Tables, and Directories of Post

Ofﬁces, 1803–

Lists, tables, and directories of Post Ofﬁces

are available for nearly half of the years

from 1803 to 1870, and continuously from

1955 to the present. (For information on

the intervening period, see the entry below

for the United States Ofﬁcial Postal Guide.)

Although there is some variation by year, the

earliest lists typically provide an alphabetical

listing of Post Ofﬁce names, along with the

name of the postmaster, county and state,

and the distances from the Post Ofﬁce to the

state capital and to Washington, D.C. The

1831 Table of Post Ofﬁces in the United States

provides the ﬁrst listing of Post Ofﬁces by

county, which is regularly featured beginning

Sources of Historical Information 13

in 1859. Directories of Post Ofﬁces from 1955

to 2004 list Post Ofﬁces, as well as stations

and branches, alphabetically and by state and

county, and provide the class of the Post Ofﬁce

(before 1975), as well as names of postal units

discontinued in the preceding year. They do

not show names of postmasters. Beginning in

1957, numbers of boxes served by Post Ofﬁces

are listed. City delivery statistics are available

beginning in 1979, when the Directory of Post

Ofﬁces combined with the National ZIP Code

Directory to form a new title, the National ZIP

Code and Post Ofﬁce Directory. This was last

issued in 2004 as the National Five-Digit ZIP

Code and Post Ofﬁce Directory. Lists of Post

Ofﬁces by state and county since 1986 are

available at http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/

postmasterﬁnder/welcome.htm. (See Postmaster

Finder, page 17).

Selected editions of the List of Post Ofﬁces in the

United States, Table of Post Ofﬁces in the United

States, Directory of Post Ofﬁces, and National

Five-Digit ZIP Code and Post Ofﬁce Directory

(titles vary slightly) may be available from your

local library through inter-library loan.

Newspapers, 1700s–

Early newspapers often contain advertisements

for mail route bids and for service on various

routes. They also might contain the schedule

of mail arrival and changes to mail service,

Post Ofﬁces, and postmasters. Note: In the

18th and early 19th centuries, postmasters

were sometimes also the local newspaper

editor/printer.

Hundreds of historic newspapers have been

reproduced in searchable electronic databases,

such as ProQuest Historical Newspapers™,

Readex’s Early American Newspapers, and

Gale’s 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, which are

available online by subscription and at many

research libraries. Some state and local libraries

have also digitized portions of their newspaper

collections and have made them available

14 Publication 119

online to the general public. A useful guide

to early American newspapers is available on

the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America:

Historic American Newspapers Web pages, at

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.

Ofﬁcial Register of the United

States, 1816–1911

The biennial Ofﬁcial Register lists Post Ofﬁces

and postal employees and their ﬁnancial

compensation in 1816, and in odd-numbered

years from 1817 to 1911. The earliest editions

of the Ofﬁcial Register list Headquarters

employees, postmasters, Post Ofﬁce clerks,

and mail contractors. Route agents and mail

messengers are ﬁrst listed in 1855. Railway

Mail Service employees and city carriers are

listed beginning in 1867, and rural carriers

beginning in 1899. From 1877 to 1905, the

Ofﬁcial Register is indexed by employee name.

Selected editions of the Ofﬁcial Register of the

United States may be available from your local

library through inter-library loan.

Orders of the Postmaster General

(“Journals”), 1835–1953

The Orders of the Postmaster General,

referred to as the Journals, are arranged

chronologically in bound volumes covering

the period from July 7, 1835, to March 5,

1953. Noted in these volumes are Post Ofﬁce

establishments, discontinuances, and name

and site changes, as well as information on

mail routes, contractors, and carriers. Also

noted, upon their dates of appointment, are

the names of postmasters appointed to Post

Ofﬁces, as well as the names and reasons

for leaving of the previously appointed

postmasters (“moved away,” “resigned,”

“declined position,” etc.). Although these

volumes are unindexed, they are useful to

Post Ofﬁce historians as a secondary source

to verify pre-1880 information found in the

Record of Appointment of Postmasters. (After

Sources of Historical Information 15

1880, the Postal Bulletin is available and is

easier to use.) The Journals are also helpful in

identifying individuals who were appointed

to the position of postmaster but who did not

take ofﬁce.

The Journals are located at the National

Archives as part of the Records of the Post

Ofﬁce Department, Record Group 28.

Pay and Personnel Records,

circa 1901–

Although personnel ﬁles—called “Ofﬁcial

Personnel Folders” (OPFs)—were not created

for postal employees until 1948 or later,

information on the service of some employees

prior to 1948 is available from other sources,

such as Post Ofﬁce payroll records. Note

that employees at smaller Post Ofﬁces

were sometimes employed directly by the

postmaster, so federal personnel records were

not kept. Also, personnel records were not kept

for people who carried mail on a contractual

basis.

Pay and personnel records of postal employees

are located at the National Personnel Records

Center in St. Louis, Missouri (www.archives.gov/

st-louis/civilian-personnel). When submitting

requests for information, researchers should

provide as much identifying information as

possible about the former employee and his or

her place and dates of employment.

Postal Bulletin, March 1880–

The Postal Bulletin (entitled Daily Bulletin

of Orders Affecting the Postal Service prior to

1919) lists postmaster names and dates of

commission until 1942. Acting postmasters are

listed from 1884 to 1942. Star (contract) route

establishments, discontinuances, and schedule

changes are listed from 1880 to 1942, and

rural route establishments, discontinuances,

and changes are listed from 1898 to about

1934. The Postal Bulletin also gives Post Ofﬁce

establishment and discontinuance dates,

16 Publication 119

as well as information on Post Ofﬁce name

and site changes. Beginning in 1907, the

establishment and discontinuance dates of

Post Ofﬁce stations and branches are also

provided. Note: Since the Postal Bulletin is

largely unindexed, it is useful mainly as a

back-up reference.

The Postal Bulletin may be available from your

local library through inter-library loan. PDF

copies of issues for the current calendar year

and some recent years are available on the

Postal Service’s Web site at http://about.usps.com/

postal-bulletin/welcome.htm.

Prior to 1919, the Postal Bulletin was titled the Daily Bulletin

of Orders Affecting the Postal Service.

Sources of Historical Information 17

Postmaster Finder, 1986–

Postmaster Finder is a database maintained

by the historian of the United States Postal

Service. It provides the establishment and

discontinuance dates of Post Ofﬁces and the

names and appointment dates of postmasters,

acting postmasters, and ofﬁcers-in-charge

who served in between the tenure of two

postmasters. Dates of Post Ofﬁce name and

county changes are also recorded. Since its

creation in 1986, Postmaster Finder has been

the sole national repository of postmaster

names and appointment dates, by Post

Ofﬁce. Pre-1986 information on Post Ofﬁces

is gradually being added to the database and

currently is available for about 30 percent of

active Post Ofﬁces.

Postmaster Finder is available on the Postal

Service’s Web site at http://about.usps.com/who-

we-are/postmasterﬁnder/welcome.htm.

Post Route Maps, 1830s–1940s

Post route maps of counties, states, and groups

or portions of states depict mail routes and

show stops (Post Ofﬁces), distances between

them, and frequency of service. Bodies of

water, railroad lines, canals, and recently

discontinued Post Ofﬁces are also sometimes

shown. Statistics are sometimes given for the

states depicted, including area in square miles,

population and population density, number of

Post Ofﬁces, and miles of railroads and canals.

Post route and rural route maps are located

in the National Archives’ Cartographic

and Architectural Section, at the National

Archives at College Park, Maryland, and in the

Geography and Map Division of the Library of

Congress.

18 Publication 119

Record Cards of Letter Carriers

Separated from the Postal Service,

1863–ca. 1900

The record cards of letter carriers whose

service ended by about 1900 are index cards

ﬁled alphabetically by state, Post Ofﬁce, and

the name of the letter carrier. The cards give

the carrier's appointment date and the date

and reason for his separation from service,

such as “resigned,” “transferred,” “died,” or

“removed.” Causes for removal are sometimes

noted. Although the cards generally date to

1899, dates through 1902 and even later may

be found.

The cards have been reproduced as National

Archives Microﬁlm Publication M1846, Record

Cards of Letter Carriers Separated from the Postal

Service, 1863-1899 (3 rolls). They are available

for purchase from the National Archives

and may be available from your local library

through inter-library loan.

Record Cards of Postmaster

Appointments, 1890s–1986

The record cards of postmaster appointments

(PS Forms 1094, 1095, and 1084) are index

cards of postmaster and acting postmaster

appointments and ofﬁcer-in-charge

installations at Post Ofﬁces from the late 1890s

through 1986, ﬁled alphabetically

by state and Post Ofﬁce. Post Ofﬁce

discontinuance/establishment information is

also provided, along with dates when a Post

Ofﬁce was advanced to or relegated from the

presidential class. (The president appointed

postmasters at ﬁrst-, second-, and third-

class ofﬁces from 1864 to 1970. Classes were

dropped in 1975.) These records are often

the sole source of information on postmaster

appointments at Post Ofﬁces from 1971 to

1986, although before 1971 they largely

duplicate information found in the Record of

Appointment of Postmasters.

Sources of Historical Information 19

The record cards before about 1971 are located

at the National Archives as part of the Records

of the Post Ofﬁce Department, Record Group

28. Cards after 1971 are located in the ofﬁce

of the Historian of the United States Postal

Service.

Record of Appointment of

Postmasters, 1814–1971

The Record of Appointment of Postmasters

consists of ledgers of postmaster appointments

by Post Ofﬁce from 1814 to September 30,

1971. The records before 1832 are arranged

alphabetically on a national basis, by Post

Ofﬁce name and state. County names are

given beginning in 1824. After 1832, the

records are arranged by state or territory,

then by county, and then alphabetically by

Post Ofﬁce. The records show the names of

Post Ofﬁces, the dates of their establishment

and discontinuance, any name changes,

and the names and appointment dates of

postmasters. Surety information is sometimes

provided before 1844. Beginning in the

1840s, presidential appointments are noted.

Money order ofﬁces are noted beginning in

the 1860s. After about 1870, the records show

the names of Post Ofﬁces to which mail from

discontinued ofﬁces was sent. Names of acting

postmasters are listed beginning in the 1910s.

Sample record card of postmaster appointments, showing

appointments at Oro Grande, California, from 1943 to 1979.

20 Publication 119

(See also the description of this record at www.

archives.gov. Search for post ofﬁce records.)

The postmaster appointment ledgers have been

reproduced as National Archives Microﬁlm

Publication M1131, Record of Appointment of

Postmasters, October 1789–1832 (Rolls 2, 3,

and 4), and M841, Record of Appointment of

Postmasters, 1832–September 30, 1971 (145

rolls). They are available for purchase from the

National Archives and may be available from

your local library through inter-library loan.

Record of First Returns Received

from Postmasters, 1789–1818

The Record of First Returns Received from

Postmasters is a volume containing names

of postmasters at Post Ofﬁces from October

1789 to July 1818, along with the dates of

their ﬁrst ﬁnancial returns. Since postmasters

were required to submit quarterly ﬁnancial

statements for their Post Ofﬁces, their ﬁrst

ﬁnancial returns generally postdated their

appointment by several months, although

delays in submitting accounts were not

uncommon. This volume is especially useful

since records of postmaster appointments

before 1814 were destroyed by a ﬁre at

Headquarters in 1836. (It is sometimes possible

to ﬁnd pre-1814 appointment dates for

postmasters by searching for them in the index

to the Letters Sent by the Postmaster General in

the months preceding their ﬁrst return date.)

This record has been reproduced as Roll 1

of National Archives Microﬁlm Publication

M1131, Record of Appointment of Postmasters,

October 1789–1832. It is available for purchase

from the National Archives and may be

available from your local library through

inter-library loan.

Rural Free Delivery Records,

1901–1934

Among the records of the Division of Rural

Mails from 1901 to 1917 and from 1930

Sources of Historical Information 21

to 1934 are correspondence, reports, and

supporting documents (sometimes including

maps and petitions) regarding proposed rural

route establishments and changes, ﬁled by

state and county. The Division records also

include correspondence, ﬁled by state and

Post Ofﬁce, from 1909 to 1929 and from

1930 to 1932. Inspection reports, referenced

in the above ﬁles and arranged by state and

report number, contain further details on

proposed route changes, such as discussions

of local topography, existing mail service, and

customers served.

The records of the Division of Rural Mails are

located at the National Archives as part of the

Records of the Post Ofﬁce Department, Record

Group 28.

Rural Route Cards, 1896–1970s

Rural route cards, ﬁled by Post Ofﬁce, list route

lengths; establishment dates; and names, dates

of service, and salaries of rural carriers.

Rural route cards are housed at the National

Personnel Records Center in St. Louis,

Missouri.

Site Location Reports of Post Ofﬁces,

1837–1950

The reports of site locations are forms

completed and submitted by postmasters,

mostly from 1845 until 1945, giving the

location of their Post Ofﬁces and other

geographical information. The reports

typically show Post Ofﬁce locations in relation

to nearby Post Ofﬁces and transportation

routes. Some reports show locations in terms

of legal land descriptions, small grid maps

of the vicinity of the ofﬁce, or both. Reports

submitted for proposed Post Ofﬁces, referred

to as “applications to establish the Post Ofﬁce,”

also list the number of patrons the Post Ofﬁce

would serve. (See also the description of this

record at www.archives.gov. Search for post ofﬁce

records.)

22 Publication 119

Site location report for the Berkeley Springs,

West Virginia, Post Ofﬁce, with a hand-drawn map of

Morgan County, West Virginia, submitted by Postmaster

Ann M. Mead in 1868.

Sources of Historical Information 23

These reports have been reproduced as

National Archives Microﬁlm Publication

M1126, Post Ofﬁce Department Reports of Site

Locations, 1837–1950 (683 rolls), which are

available for purchase from the National

Archives and may be available from your

local library through inter-library loan.

United States Ofﬁcial Postal Guide,

1874–1954

The United States Ofﬁcial Postal Guide provides

alphabetical lists of Post Ofﬁces nationwide,

by state, and by state and county. Monthly

supplements to the Guide show the latest Post

Ofﬁce establishments, discontinuances, and

name and county changes.

Selected issues of the United States Ofﬁcial

Postal Guide may be available from your local

library through inter-library loan.

Locations of Records

Historian

United States Postal Service

475 L’Enfant Plaza SW

Washington, DC 20260-0012

Copies of many of the publications described

in this booklet are available in the Postal

Service’s collection of historical materials,

which is managed by the historian’s staff

and is open to the public by appointment.

The historian’s staff responds to requests

for information on Post Ofﬁces and former

postal employees, and the staff can provide

guidance in researching speciﬁc aspects of

postal history. For further information, write

to the above address or send an e-mail to

phistory@usps.gov.

24 Publication 119

Library of Congress

101 Independence Avenue SE

Washington, DC 20540-0002

The Library’s Manuscript Division houses

some records of the Confederate Post Ofﬁce

Department. The Geography and Map Division

has early post route maps. To see some of its

other useful maps, go to http://memory.loc.gov/

ammem/index.html.

National Archives and Records

Administration

700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20408-0001

The Records of the Post Ofﬁce Department,

Record Group 28, and the War Department

Collection of Confederate Records, Record

Group 109, are housed here. Many of the

records most useful to researchers have been

reproduced on microﬁlm and are available

from the National Archives and its regional

branches, and they may be available from your

local library through inter-library loan. For

further information, write to the above address

or go to www.archives.gov.

National Archives at College Park

8601 Adelphi Road

College Park, MD 20740-6001

Post route maps are located in the

Cartographic and Architectural Section of

the Archives’ College Park facility. For further

information, write to the above address or go

to www.archives.gov.

National Personnel Records Center

Civilian Records Facility

111 Winnebago Street

St. Louis, MO 63118-4126

The Civilian Records Facility has pay and

personnel records for some postal employees

whose service ended after about 1901. It

Sources of Historical Information 25

also houses rural route cards. For further

information, write to the above address or go

online to www.archives.gov/st-louis/

civilian-personnel.

United States Board on Geographic

Names

U.S. Geological Survey

523 National Center

Reston, VA 20192-0523

The United States Board on Geographic Names

is tasked with standardizing geographic name

usage. To search its domestic geographic

names database, go to http://geonames.usgs.gov/

domestic/index.html. Post Ofﬁce names were

typically suggested by prospective patrons;

there are no postal records that explain their

origin.