Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
POSTAL SERVICE: Difference between revisions
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A permanent [[POST OFFICE]] was constructed at 9th and Locust Street through the efforts of Iowa Senator Jones. The same man who established mail delivery by steamboat convinced Congress in 1856 to appropriate $20,000. (8) The site of the post office was expected to be at 7th and Iowa, and the value of the property rose quickly. The land at 9th and Locust, however, was purchased instead and a construction contract for $88,000 was awarded. The work began just before the [[PANIC OF 1857]]. The building was completed in 1866 at a cost of $179,000. (9) In 1879 the post office handled 1,075,048 letters and postcards. (10) | A permanent [[POST OFFICE]] was constructed at 9th and Locust Street through the efforts of Iowa Senator Jones. The same man who established mail delivery by steamboat convinced Congress in 1856 to appropriate $20,000. (8) The site of the post office was expected to be at 7th and Iowa, and the value of the property rose quickly. The land at 9th and Locust, however, was purchased instead and a construction contract for $88,000 was awarded. The work began just before the [[PANIC OF 1857]]. The building was completed in 1866 at a cost of $179,000. (9) In 1879 the post office handled 1,075,048 letters and postcards. (10) | ||
In 1873, Dubuque got its first three mail carriers--Frank W. Dyer, George A. Hoerner, and [[MARTIN, Moses|Moses MARTIN]]. Each man was paid $600 a year. In 1901 [[BOLEYN, William|William BOLEYN]] became Dubuque's first rural carrier. He was paid $40 per month and had to supply his own carriage, sleigh, wagon and team of horses. Postal employees were not granted their first day off--Sunday--until 1911. The present Dubuque post office was constructed in 1934 at a cost of $513,000. | In 1873, Dubuque got its first three mail carriers--Frank W. Dyer, George A. Hoerner, and [[MARTIN, Moses|Moses MARTIN]]. Each man was paid $600 a year. Postal carriers received gilt buttons monogrammed "P.O." for their new uniforms on May 4, 1874. (11) In 1901 [[BOLEYN, William|William BOLEYN]] became Dubuque's first rural carrier. He was paid $40 per month and had to supply his own carriage, sleigh, wagon and team of horses. Postal employees were not granted their first day off--Sunday--until 1911. The present Dubuque post office was constructed in 1934 at a cost of $513,000. | ||
Experimental airmail flights came to Dubuque in 1912. At a local air show from [[NUTWOOD PARK]], daredevil [[BEACHEY, Lincoln|Lincoln BEACHEY]] dropped a bag of specially stamped mail to a messenger who took it to the post office. The four-block flight took only a few minutes. In 1950 Mid Continent Airlines began regular airmail service to Dubuque. In the same year, the daily delivery of mail to residences was reduced from twice to once. Business deliveries were reduced from three times to twice a day. | Experimental airmail flights came to Dubuque in 1912. At a local air show from [[NUTWOOD PARK]], daredevil [[BEACHEY, Lincoln|Lincoln BEACHEY]] dropped a bag of specially stamped mail to a messenger who took it to the post office. The four-block flight took only a few minutes. In 1950 Mid Continent Airlines began regular airmail service to Dubuque. In the same year, the daily delivery of mail to residences was reduced from twice to once. Business deliveries were reduced from three times to twice a day. | ||
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The Dubuque Post Office was designated a Management Sectional Center on November 1, 1961, making it one of 552 such centers in the United States. ZIP (Zone Improvement Plan) was started in Dubuque on July 1, 1963. On January 1, 1969, the Postal Annex was opened in the Kirby Building. | The Dubuque Post Office was designated a Management Sectional Center on November 1, 1961, making it one of 552 such centers in the United States. ZIP (Zone Improvement Plan) was started in Dubuque on July 1, 1963. On January 1, 1969, the Postal Annex was opened in the Kirby Building. | ||
In 1963 an estimated 1,050 families living in suburban areas of Dubuque received their mail like they lived in the country. Door-to-door deliveries of mail were only made after sidewalks and streets were paved and homes occupied at least thirty percent of the block. Until those conditions were met, homes received "city mounted delivery" which meant placing a mailbox on a post at the curb. ( | In 1963 an estimated 1,050 families living in suburban areas of Dubuque received their mail like they lived in the country. Door-to-door deliveries of mail were only made after sidewalks and streets were paved and homes occupied at least thirty percent of the block. Until those conditions were met, homes received "city mounted delivery" which meant placing a mailbox on a post at the curb. (12) | ||
Dubuque letter carriers became motorized in red, white, and blue postal jeeps after April 1, 1970. A permanent parking lot for postal vehicles was acquired at Fifth and Locust Streets in 1978. | Dubuque letter carriers became motorized in red, white, and blue postal jeeps after April 1, 1970. A permanent parking lot for postal vehicles was acquired at Fifth and Locust Streets in 1978. | ||
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10.Ibid. p. 549 | 10.Ibid. p. 549 | ||
11. Fedler, Fred. " 'Rural' Mail for the City," ''Telegraph Herald'', November 24, 1963, p. 25 | 11. "Caught on the Fly," ''Dubuque Herald'', May 5, 1874, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18740505&printsec=frontpage&hl=en | ||
12. Fedler, Fred. " 'Rural' Mail for the City," ''Telegraph Herald'', November 24, 1963, p. 25 | |||
[[Category: Postal System]] | [[Category: Postal System]] | ||
[[Category: Postcards]] | [[Category: Postcards]] | ||
Revision as of 21:07, 24 October 2015
POSTAL SERVICE. Until 1833 there was no mail service in the area of Dubuque. Letters to those living in the area were delivered by "chance carriers." (1) Iowa's first post office, Dubuque Mines, was organized on May 27, 1833, within the jurisdiction of Jo Daviess County, Illinois. When Iowa was opened for white settlement on June 1, 1833, the first mail was delivered by horseback by George Ord Karrick.
The first POST OFFICE in Dubuque was located on Main Street between Third and Fourth STREETS in the store of Milo H. Prentice. Appointed the first postmaster in 1833, Prentice kept the mail in his hat or a tea box. He held the office for two years and then was replaced by Guy B. Morrison who was replaced in two years by John KING. (2) Jurisdiction over Dubuque came under the Territory of Michigan on June 28, 1834. This was shown by the hand-stamped "Dubuque Mines Mic.T" (Michigan Territory) on letters mailed in Dubuque.
This period in Dubuque postal history lasted until the area fell under the control of the Wisconsin Territory from July 4, 1836, to July 3, 1838. Mail service expanded in 1836 when George Wallace JONES began a mail route with steamboats on the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. Before Jones began the business, mail took six months to reach the East. The new system reduced delivery to about one month. There were several CANCELS used on letters mailed during this time. Guy Morrison became the postmaster.
During the period Iowa was part of the Wisconsin Territory, the post office location moved to 7th and Iowa Street. It shared a building with the DUBUQUE VISITOR, which was operated by John KING, the postmaster. (3) In 1837 the post office name was changed from Dubuque’s Mines to Dubuque. The physical location of the post office moved to Fourth and Main, the building of EMERSON AND SHIELDS. It was later moved to the Anthenaeum and then the Opera House. (4)
In February, 1838, the citizens held a public meeting to devise ways and means to improve the mail service. A committee was appointed to petition Congress to afford additional mail facilities. This included: 1. A tri-weekly, four-horse, post coach route from Dubuque to Milwaukee,; 2. a weekly horse route to the center of Delaware county; 3. a weekly horse mail from Dubuque to the Cedar River settlement ; 4. an improvement of the mails between Dubuque and Chicago and between Dubuque and St. Louis.
The delivery of mail increased from once a week to three times by 1849. (5) King remained the postmaster until that year when he assigned to the office to William H. Robbins. He operated the post office in the Globe Building under the administration of President Franklin Pierce when the post master became Charles Corkery. In 1857 Corkery was replaced by H. H. Heath. (6)
During the terms of the last two postmasters, the post office was housed in a building on the north side 6th Street between Main and Locust or in the ODD FELLOWS TEMPLE on Eighth and Bluff. Fire destroyed this building on June 19, 1859. The post office was then moved to the Town Clock Building between Eighth and Ninth STREETS on Main and then to a building on Eighth and Main. The post office remained there under the construction of the DUBUQUE CUSTOM HOUSE AND POST OFFICE on Ninth and Locust. (7)
From 1849 until 1857, during the time the Globe Building served as the Dubuque post office, letters could be carried 3,000 for three cents with additional miles for ten cents. Dubuque had the only mail distributing office west of Chicago and north of St. Louis.
A permanent POST OFFICE was constructed at 9th and Locust Street through the efforts of Iowa Senator Jones. The same man who established mail delivery by steamboat convinced Congress in 1856 to appropriate $20,000. (8) The site of the post office was expected to be at 7th and Iowa, and the value of the property rose quickly. The land at 9th and Locust, however, was purchased instead and a construction contract for $88,000 was awarded. The work began just before the PANIC OF 1857. The building was completed in 1866 at a cost of $179,000. (9) In 1879 the post office handled 1,075,048 letters and postcards. (10)
In 1873, Dubuque got its first three mail carriers--Frank W. Dyer, George A. Hoerner, and Moses MARTIN. Each man was paid $600 a year. Postal carriers received gilt buttons monogrammed "P.O." for their new uniforms on May 4, 1874. (11) In 1901 William BOLEYN became Dubuque's first rural carrier. He was paid $40 per month and had to supply his own carriage, sleigh, wagon and team of horses. Postal employees were not granted their first day off--Sunday--until 1911. The present Dubuque post office was constructed in 1934 at a cost of $513,000.
Experimental airmail flights came to Dubuque in 1912. At a local air show from NUTWOOD PARK, daredevil Lincoln BEACHEY dropped a bag of specially stamped mail to a messenger who took it to the post office. The four-block flight took only a few minutes. In 1950 Mid Continent Airlines began regular airmail service to Dubuque. In the same year, the daily delivery of mail to residences was reduced from twice to once. Business deliveries were reduced from three times to twice a day.
On October 17, 1911, Hugh Robinson had landed on the river while attempting to carry mail between Minneapolis, Minnesota, and New Orleans, Louisiana. This attempt was unsuccessful, but in July 1918, a second airmail route was established with Dubuque as the starting point. An estimated 2,500 pieces of mail were delivered by Charles Walsh in two flights using a Curtiss land plane. Regularly scheduled airmail service, however, was not started until September 26, 1950. The same year residential delivery of mail was reduced to one per day instead of two. Businesses received two deliveries instead of three.
The cutback of passenger train service led the Post Office Department to begin the Highway Post Office service on October 15, 1952. The van, fully equipped to sort and distribute mail, ran a route from Madison, Wisconsin, to Dubuque.
Dubuque mail carriers began the delivery of mail from caddy carts on October 1, 1956. The increased volume of mail was reflected in the postal revenue in Dubuque. In 1934 postal revenue in Dubuque was $284,000. This figure rose past the one million dollar level by 1944 and six million dollars by 1978.
The Dubuque Post Office was designated a Management Sectional Center on November 1, 1961, making it one of 552 such centers in the United States. ZIP (Zone Improvement Plan) was started in Dubuque on July 1, 1963. On January 1, 1969, the Postal Annex was opened in the Kirby Building.
In 1963 an estimated 1,050 families living in suburban areas of Dubuque received their mail like they lived in the country. Door-to-door deliveries of mail were only made after sidewalks and streets were paved and homes occupied at least thirty percent of the block. Until those conditions were met, homes received "city mounted delivery" which meant placing a mailbox on a post at the curb. (12)
Dubuque letter carriers became motorized in red, white, and blue postal jeeps after April 1, 1970. A permanent parking lot for postal vehicles was acquired at Fifth and Locust Streets in 1978.
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Source:
1. Oldt, Franklin T. The History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1880, Online: http://books.google.com/books?id=u9xDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA464&lpg=PA464&dq=Burton%27s+Furnace+%28dubuque+history%29&source=bl&ots=0CkCGLFR0v&sig=a0Ou1vN3ew6nQUYoq2aOJsXF9Mg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=j3HVT5XALaP42QXVp9iFDw&ved=0CGgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Burton%27s%20Furnace%20%28dubuque%20history%29&f=false (p. 548)
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid., p. 549
10.Ibid. p. 549
11. "Caught on the Fly," Dubuque Herald, May 5, 1874, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18740505&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
12. Fedler, Fred. " 'Rural' Mail for the City," Telegraph Herald, November 24, 1963, p. 25
