{"id":4290,"date":"2024-09-28T15:35:19","date_gmt":"2024-09-28T19:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/?p=4290"},"modified":"2024-09-28T15:35:21","modified_gmt":"2024-09-28T19:35:21","slug":"the-history-of-postal-service-in-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/eternal\/the-history-of-postal-service-in-new-york-4290","title":{"rendered":"The history of postal service in New York"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The postal service in New York has a rich and long history that reflects the development of both the city and the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a whole. The postal service in New York dates back to the 17th century. Every decade, the metropolis&#8217; post office has improved the quality of its services to meet the needs of citizens and tourists. New York has always been an important center of communication for America. In this article, we have prepared for you an interesting story about the origin of the postal service in New York. Continue reading on <a href=\"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\">newyork1.one<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a0095cd1d9cc\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a0095cd1d9cc\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/eternal\/the-history-of-postal-service-in-new-york-4290\/#The_emergence_of_a_post_office\" >The emergence of a post office<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/eternal\/the-history-of-postal-service-in-new-york-4290\/#Functioning_of_the_post_office\" >Functioning of the post office<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/eternal\/the-history-of-postal-service-in-new-york-4290\/#Scope_of_work_of_the_post_office\" >Scope of work of the post office<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/eternal\/the-history-of-postal-service-in-new-york-4290\/#Expansion_of_the_post_office\" >Expansion of the post office<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/eternal\/the-history-of-postal-service-in-new-york-4290\/#The_emergence_of_mail_carriers\" >The emergence of mail carriers<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_emergence_of_a_post_office\"><\/span>The emergence of a post office<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the days of the Dutch, letters were brought from Europe by ship captains and handed over to <a href=\"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/eternal\/caffe-reggio-the-history-of-the-oldest-new-york-cafe-2941\">coffee shop<\/a> owners. Then, the recipients could call and receive their letters. But this custom lasted only until 1686.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Already in 1692, the city authorities established a post office. In 1710, the Postmaster General of Great Britain moved the headquarters of the colonial postal service from Philadelphia to New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first city post office was on Broadway across from Beaver Street. In 1804, the post office was moved to 29 William Street, corner of Garden Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1827, the office was moved to the basement of the Merchants&#8217; Exchange. Unfortunately, in 1835, the Merchants&#8217; Exchange was destroyed in a massive fire. After the terrible incident, the New York\u2019s post office received a new location. It was moved to the Rotunda in City Hall Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the Rotunda was too small for a post office. So, in 1845, the post office was moved to the Middle Dutch Church on Nassau Street, between Pine and Cedar Streets. It was purchased by the government for $350,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The place that was purchased for the post office was not adapted to provide quality services. This building was consecrated in 1732 and was used for worship by one of the city&#8217;s Dutch communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1776, when the city was occupied by the British, the conquerors turned it into a prison to imprison their rebellious captives. Later, they used it as a riding school to train cavalry. After the British evacuated the city, the community reoccupied it and converted it for religious services. Having paid the aforementioned large sum for this, the government was forced to spend an additional $80,000 to put the building in order. Since then, many changes had been made to the building, some of which had been costly. But even with the enormous investment in construction and restoration, it was not able to meet the requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.newyork1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/09\/ad_4nxdz2rgaslts_enwy10qbhn07761i1iclulvvvsbfrhpisezircu7tgqgeas8sp-rmsljvpd1i04kc2diiqjxm383ztt26lcphqpi08591rvhkhg_8-iqr4-gyncjvo8ussrb7lpc_zup9nt572ufkwfec0keyax-0eutkvps45qb9-hcvjw.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Functioning_of_the_post_office\"><\/span>Functioning of the post office<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The premises of the old church were used for mail sorting. This work took place on the first floor. There were large semicircular structures on the floor, divided into several open sections. Each section had a mail sack attached to it. They were all labeled with the names of the cities to which they were to be sent. The clerk stood inside the structure in front of a table filled with letters and quickly threw them into the appropriate sections. The worker was so skillful that they always hit the right place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the post office, you could hear the sound of a heavy stamp every second, which was how employees stamped and affixed stamps to letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The top floor of the old church was used by the postmaster and his assistants, the superintendent of the city delivery, as well as the Money Order and Registered Letter Offices. A wooden corridor ran along the side of the church, along Nassau and Cedar Streets. It was used for the box and general deliveries and the stamp windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In different parts of the wooden corridor, there were boxes for storing letters and papers intended for postal delivery. The accumulation of mail here was so great that letters destined for a particular part of the country had to be stored in one specific place. Letters for New England had to be placed in one box, for the Middle States in another, for the Southern States in another and for the West in another. The names of the states were written prominently above each box to prevent mistakes by outsiders. Letters for the major countries of Europe and Asia were arranged in the same way. Newspapers and periodicals had a separate section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.newyork1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/09\/ad_4nxefhs-q1qvt_xsonkwibgujxsqjmukmyt7jheuf368fdbpjlm8wcfzfszvthgw7vwlozcwlpdn0y3_zbju93puxc3cu_r9-ndvu5gytkfkh1ncm5ueqharegwlsdlod4f8rfklf90iunpz3plfhzwq-p0nykeyax-0eutkvps45qb9-hcvjw.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Scope_of_work_of_the_post_office\"><\/span>Scope of work of the post office<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Not every New Yorker can guess the scope of the post office&#8217;s work. Every day, during the 19th and 20th centuries, letters arrived on mail steamers from abroad, partly for delivery in the city and partly for forwarding to other places. On average, there were about 15,000 of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The number of letters sent from this office by steamer to other countries was about 17,000 daily. The number of letters sent from New York to other offices in the US was about 155,000 daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There were also letters that the post office received from local branches. The post office was also engaged in money transfers. About $1,000 was paid out daily, which was a lot of money in the 19th century. Sales of postage stamps amounted to about $44,000 a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Expansion_of_the_post_office\"><\/span>Expansion of the post office<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Over time, the NYC government realized that although the post office, which was built on the backdrop of a former church, was doing a huge amount of work, it was not enough. New York received letters from all over the world. Based on this situation, the city council decided to expand and build new post offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1912, the NYC government built the main building of the USPS in the metropolis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The James A. Farley Post Office (the General Post Office) is widely known for its beauty and enormous size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1966, the building was recognized as a national architectural monument. It occupies two entire city blocks. However, beyond its size, the post office is praised as an outstanding example of the Roman classical style, with fifty-three Corinthian columns topped with a frieze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An interesting fact is that if you are in the James A. Farley Post Office, you should look up. The ceiling is decorated with the official seals of ten countries, including France, Germany and England, in addition to the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These emblems represent the ten countries that were among the first members of the Universal Postal Union at the time of the building&#8217;s construction.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The US seal is in the center of the atrium, surrounded by the seals of England and Germany.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The English seal contains the French phrase, Dieu et mon droit (God and my right).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The German seal became a subject of controversy when the US entered World War I four years after the Farley Post Office opened. Some groups demanded its removal from the ceiling. The German seal shows the coat of arms from the time of Francis II and the coat of arms of Francis I of Austria, from the early 1800s. Other countries include France (R.F. (French Republic)), Switzerland, Belgium (with the French words, L&#8217;Union Fait la Force (Unity makes strength)) and the Netherlands (Je Maintiendrai (I will maintain)).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.newyork1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/09\/ad_4nxfixewrmkhknivf_sc2itfc4utjhsvjhsqa9n0ba-bsuxy7g9v77qayeevucwkcpzqph7macudkmx_qp5jl586oihttew62xz80rgm2ryzpeeyo-c-9wg_idmr0bf62xemlenhx7cr_t2i5nmnr16q6zinikeyax-0eutkvps45qb9-hcvjw.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_emergence_of_mail_carriers\"><\/span>The emergence of mail carriers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, New Yorkers didn&#8217;t have to visit coffee shops or post offices to receive a long-awaited letter. The metropolis had mail carriers who brought letters directly to the address. It was very convenient as you didn&#8217;t have to leave your house. The mail carrier handed the letter to the owners or left it in a box near your apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A force of letter carriers was organized under the supervision of a superintendent who was appointed by the postmaster. Once selected, a candidate for the letter carrier position had to indicate their age, general health, former profession, business experience, the reason for leaving their last job and whether they had served in the army or navy. If an applicant is selected, they are examined by a Department surgeon to ensure their physical health. Each candidate was required to have good eyesight. Then, after all the procedures, the person was hired as a letter carrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.newyork1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/09\/ad_4nxefuf_g-x_4onqwe-trdkeda4d0v_ciihodre34qjksfhulcfjbdrporu3rsejwpkpaslg9yugx1i6scblfhkveeifi2u7xlbivt4tufnummaa2yri1xvnb82gd90iagvcohaumamdb5f6jihfee4re0zljkeyax-0eutkvps45qb9-hcvjw.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The postal service in New York has a rich and long history that reflects the development of both the city and the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a whole. The postal service in New York dates back to the 17th century. Every decade, the metropolis&#8217; post office has improved the quality of its services [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":332,"featured_media":4255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1168],"tags":[3058,3059,3065,3062,3061,3060,3066,3056,3064,3055,3057,3063,3068,3067],"motype":[1158],"moformat":[93],"moimportance":[78,81],"class_list":{"0":"post-4290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jobs","8":"tag-a-candidate-for-the-letter-carrier-position-had-to-indicate-their-age","9":"tag-business-experience","10":"tag-expansion-of-the-post-office","11":"tag-former-profession","12":"tag-general-health","13":"tag-once-selected","14":"tag-scope-of-work-of-the-post-office","15":"tag-the-emergence-of-mail-carriers","16":"tag-the-english-seal-contains-the-french-phrase","17":"tag-the-history-of-postal-service-in-new-york","18":"tag-the-mail-carrier-handed-the-letter-to-the-owners-or-left-it-in-a-box-near-your-apartment","19":"tag-the-reason-for-leaving-their-last-job","20":"tag-which-was-how-employees-stamped-and-affixed-stamps-to-letters","21":"tag-you-could-hear-the-sound-of-a-heavy-stamp-every-second","22":"motype-eternal","23":"moformat-longrid-korotka","24":"moimportance-golovna-novina","25":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatori"},"modified_by":"Inna Hananova","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/332"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4290"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4291,"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4290\/revisions\/4291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4290"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=4290"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=4290"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyork1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=4290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}