Okla-homey
7/26/2007, 06:30 AM
July 26, 1775: Congress establishes U.S. Post Office
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/23961/2002200928474021226_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002200928474021226)
232 years ago on this day in 1775, Congress establishes the United States Post Office and names Benjamin Franklinthe first United States postmaster general. William Goddard, a Patriot printer frustrated that the royal postal service was unable to reliably deliver his Pennsylvania Chronicle to its readers or deliver critical news for the paper to Goddard, laid out a plan for a "Constitutional Post" before the Continental Congress on October 5, 1774.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/20935/2002232957835816786_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002232957835816786)
Ben Franklin, America's first postmaster general
Congress waited to act on the plan until after the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Benjamin Franklin promoted Goddard's plan and served as the first postmaster general under the Continental Congress beginning on July 26, 1775, nearly one year before the Congress declared independence from the British crown.
http://aycu10.webshots.com/image/22929/2003254404177248769_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003254404177248769)
Some post offices are grandiose.
Franklin's son-in-law, Richard Bache, took over the position on November 7, 1776, when Franklin became an American emissary to France. Franklin had already made a significant contribution to the postal service in the colonies while serving as the postmaster of Philadelphia from 1737 and as joint postmaster general of the colonies from 1753 to 1774, when he was fired for opening and publishing Massachusetts Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson's correspondence.
http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/21268/2002217513901361397_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002217513901361397)
When your mail gets mauled, you sometimes get a touching apology
While postmaster, Franklin streamlined postal delivery with properly surveyed and marked routes from Maine to Florida (the origins of Route 1), instituted overnight postal travel between the critical cities of New York and Philadelphia and created a standardized rate chart based upon weight and distance.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/22058/2002249693714715452_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002249693714715452)
Some post offices are funky
Samuel Osgood held the postmaster general's position in New York City from 1789, when the U.S. Constitution came into effect, until the government moved to Philadelphia in 1791. Timothy Pickering took over and, about a year later, the Postal Service Act gave his post greater legislative legitimacy and the service more effective organization.
http://aycu36.webshots.com/image/23155/2003263206991658779_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003263206991658779)
Still a pretty good deal. For 42 cents, a guy like this will come to your house M-Sat and pick up a letter. Then, a guy on the other end will deliver it to the addressee anywhere in the US. Even to Skagway, Alaska or Honolulu.
Pickering continued in the position until 1795, when he briefly served as secretary of war, before becoming the third U.S. secretary of state. The postmaster general's position was considered a plum patronage post for political allies of the president until the Postal Service was transformed into a federally chartered corporation run by a board of governors in 1971.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/24389/2002293519278023092_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002293519278023092)
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/23961/2002200928474021226_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002200928474021226)
232 years ago on this day in 1775, Congress establishes the United States Post Office and names Benjamin Franklinthe first United States postmaster general. William Goddard, a Patriot printer frustrated that the royal postal service was unable to reliably deliver his Pennsylvania Chronicle to its readers or deliver critical news for the paper to Goddard, laid out a plan for a "Constitutional Post" before the Continental Congress on October 5, 1774.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/20935/2002232957835816786_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002232957835816786)
Ben Franklin, America's first postmaster general
Congress waited to act on the plan until after the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Benjamin Franklin promoted Goddard's plan and served as the first postmaster general under the Continental Congress beginning on July 26, 1775, nearly one year before the Congress declared independence from the British crown.
http://aycu10.webshots.com/image/22929/2003254404177248769_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003254404177248769)
Some post offices are grandiose.
Franklin's son-in-law, Richard Bache, took over the position on November 7, 1776, when Franklin became an American emissary to France. Franklin had already made a significant contribution to the postal service in the colonies while serving as the postmaster of Philadelphia from 1737 and as joint postmaster general of the colonies from 1753 to 1774, when he was fired for opening and publishing Massachusetts Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson's correspondence.
http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/21268/2002217513901361397_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002217513901361397)
When your mail gets mauled, you sometimes get a touching apology
While postmaster, Franklin streamlined postal delivery with properly surveyed and marked routes from Maine to Florida (the origins of Route 1), instituted overnight postal travel between the critical cities of New York and Philadelphia and created a standardized rate chart based upon weight and distance.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/22058/2002249693714715452_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002249693714715452)
Some post offices are funky
Samuel Osgood held the postmaster general's position in New York City from 1789, when the U.S. Constitution came into effect, until the government moved to Philadelphia in 1791. Timothy Pickering took over and, about a year later, the Postal Service Act gave his post greater legislative legitimacy and the service more effective organization.
http://aycu36.webshots.com/image/23155/2003263206991658779_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003263206991658779)
Still a pretty good deal. For 42 cents, a guy like this will come to your house M-Sat and pick up a letter. Then, a guy on the other end will deliver it to the addressee anywhere in the US. Even to Skagway, Alaska or Honolulu.
Pickering continued in the position until 1795, when he briefly served as secretary of war, before becoming the third U.S. secretary of state. The postmaster general's position was considered a plum patronage post for political allies of the president until the Postal Service was transformed into a federally chartered corporation run by a board of governors in 1971.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/24389/2002293519278023092_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002293519278023092)