The U.S. Postal Service turns 250

Did you know that the U.S. Postal Service is older than America? 

Today the Postal Service turns 250! 

“The post office was created a year before the Declaration of Independence and has been there at every step along the American journey,” said Steve Kochersperger, the agency’s postal historian. “It goes everywhere Americans have gone and keeps us united.”

Throughout history, the mail has been delivered by rail, pony express, airplane, trucks, boats, and stagecoaches. 

General stamps were introduced in 1847 and cost 5 cents and 10 cents. A Forever stamp now costs 78 cents. 

Who was the first Postmaster General?

Ben Franklin! On July 26, 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin the first Postmaster General. 

Weird things you used to be able to mail and some that you still can-

Regulations about what you could and couldn’t send through the mail were vague when post offices began accepting parcels over four pounds on January 1, 1913. People immediately started testing its limits by mailing eggs, bricks, snakes, and other unusual “packages.” 

Nancy Pope, head curator of history at the National Postal Museum, has found seven instances of people mailing children between 1913 and 1915. 

You can mail coconuts, potatoes, and limes without putting them in a box. You just need to write the address on the item and adhere postage. 

You can even mail a brick without needing to put it in a box! 







Famous Americans who worked for the U.S. Postal Service-

●Abraham Lincoln, served as Postmaster in New Salem, Illinois, 

●Bing Crosby, who was a clerk in Spokane, Washington 

●Walt Disney, who worked as a substitute carrier and a Christmas temporary employee

●Charles Lindbergh, who was an airmail pilot

●William Faulkner, who was a postmaster in University, Mississippi

●Harry Truman, who served as Postmaster in Grandview, Missouri

●Steve Carell, who worked as a rural letter carrier in Massachusetts


https://www.usps.com/250/welcome.htm

https://postalmuseum.si.edu/

https://www.nps.gov/places/b-free-franklin-post-office.htm


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