Acton Historical Society Blog: Postmaster Of A Semi-Lethargic, Simmering Village

Press release from the Acton Historical Society:

3/3/2022

Boston Globe Globe Globe Acton’s Early Postal Service Concord Enterprise Middlesex Gazette, History of the Town of Concord Until late in the nineteenth century, the location of the post office would depend upon the postmaster.  As the 1800s progressed, Acton’s village post offices were often located in a postmaster’s store.  Having people’s mail would have increased foot traffic to one’s business.  The postmaster’s tenure was not guaranteed; after an election, the position might go to a competitor from the winning party.  Though changes in postmasters are traceable through records, the actual politics behind some of the appointments are not always clear.  For example, in 1855, newspapers including the Boston Atlas (July 19, 1855 p. 2) alleged that the Acton “Centre” post office was being kept in the barroom of the Know Nothing House (a reference to a political party of xenophobic tendencies), but the July 25 Boston Herald clarified that the hotel, apparently run in the past by a Know Nothing supporter, was now run by a Democrat.  The post office had been moved from the shoe shop of John Fletcher to the “public room” of a small county hotel that served no liquor.  (p. 2)Phalen’s History of the Town of Acton describes old-timers’ memories of the Center post office in the hotel.  It had a “unique contrivance for mail delivery” that operated like a Lazy Susan.  “There were pigeonholes marked with the letters of the alphabet. A person seeking mail would turn the wheel until his initial appeared at the opening whereupon he separated his mail from the rest and departed, unless of course the office happened to be vacant and he were of a curious turn of mind. In later years the device was abandoned and standard boxes installed with a pull bell that would summon the postmaster.” (p. 192)  Changing the post office location would obviously necessitate moving or installing people’s mail boxes. Boston Atlas Boston Herald History of the Town of Acton Globe Boston Journal Globe Globe Globe Fraud or Politics? Globe Globe Globe Globe Small town, Big Disagreements previous blog post What Goes Around Comes Around Concord Enterprise Enterprise Concord Enterprise

This press release was produced by the Acton Historical Society. The views expressed here are the author’s own.