The U.S. Mail Makes History

Delivering hundreds of millions of messages a day to more than 141 million U.S. homes and businesses is no small feat. Tracking the evolution of the United States Postal Service is a journey into the history of transportation, economics, industrialization, communications and government. With an act of the Second Continental Congress in 1775, the birth of the Post Office Department, predecessor to the U.S. Postal Service, was put into place. According to the Congressional act, "a line of posts [should] be appointed under the direction of the Postmaster general, from Falmouth in New England to Savannah in Georgia, with as many cross posts as he shall think fit." At the time, the postal system mainly carried communications between Congress and the armies, under the direction of Benjamin Franklin, the first Postmaster General.... [read full story]