We have a lot of people to thank for the transport of our mail, but the USPS is the reason why most people are using it. But what is the origin of the postal service within the US? Well, it did help with subsidizing the way that mail was transported, and it actually helped with the delivery of the mail. Even when the people were skeptical of this, especially due to new inventions, this is a way to help with increasing the speed of mail as well.
Mail delivery went from the horse, and then to stagecoach, to steamboat across certain locations, then by railroad across the land, and finally, by cars and airplanes, and they made sure to eventually span all of this to various continents. The post office did start this through the purchasing of some stagecoaches to get the mail transported to the correct areas, encouraging this as well to create the proper comfort and safety for those who carried the mail. They also would use steamboats and trails to possibly get the mail in between towns that didn’t have roads.
Speaking of the steamboats, the steam engine in 1831 eventually were denounced, so instead of using this, they made railroads, and by 1836, the first contract with the railroads for the postal service was something that people were starting to look at.
Then of course, there was the automobile, where it was starting to be used, since by 1896, people knew Abou the automobile, and then by 1902, in Buffalo, they had the first contract for mail carrying, with a plan to move to different areas.
Then of course, between 1901 and 1914, there were those that were upset with the frauds and higher rates for everything, so the post office was then asked and got approval from congress to have vehicles that would carry their mail to and from each location, which is of course, the early mail trucks.
The pony Express
Let’s go back to the first portion of the 19th century, where the US was moving to new areas and getting new territories, with wagons going across different areas, and passengers dealing with disease, ambushes, pestilence, and hunger. Then of course, there was the gold rush, which was responsible for a lot of people moving, and it also was when the post office got their first contract to carry mail with the steamships all the way to California. With ail traveling to New York, ten to Panama, and then later to San Francisco, it was something that was quite long, taking much longer than a month in some cases.
William H. Russel, created an express mail route to make the journey to California a whole lot faster. His first action was to create the Central Overland California Company called the Pikes Peak Express Company. With the partners, they created various stations that would relay this, and they would use different horses to help with these weather conditions.
The riders would move about 75 to 100 miles to the next relay station, and they would move this much faster. It actually ended up taking about 7 days to go from east to west, delivering Lincoln’s inaugural address. By 1861, it became a private company and worked under contract so that they could have a transcontinental means.
With free city delivery and the confederate post service as well, mail delivery has been a big part of the US, and with all of these new types of ways to do it, getting mail from one locale t the next has never been easier, for many people.