The Stamford Historical Society

Photo Archivist's Selection of the Month: October 2001

Stamford Post Offices

early postcard with car

Stamford Post Offices and Postmasters, 1790-1977, brochure The illustrated brochure at right is available for review in the Vertical Files of the Marcus Research Library at the Stamford Historical Society. Published by the Postal History Society of Connecticut in association with the Stamford Historical Society, it gives an overview of Stamford's postal history through 1977 and lists the postmasters.

In the first hundred years there were three postal systems in operation moving through Stamford.

a) The Parliamentary Post.
b) The Constitutional Post
c) The Confederation Post

Benjamin Franklin was appointed the Postmaster General for the United Colonies. His ledger lists the 5th day of January 1776 as the first reported date for a post office or postmaster in Stamford. Originally, post offices were typically located in in stores or homes of the postmasters. The first Federal Post Office of 1804 was located in a corner grocery store at 427 Main Street.

Some early photos of post offices in Stamford.

downtown post office, before 1883
1853-1883 (second downtown location)
410 Main Street, west of the Union House Hotel.

Glenbrook Post Office, ca. 1912
Glenbrook Post Office at 35 Courtland Avenue, c. 1912.
Postmistress Minnie (Mary?) Slausen at left, Grocery store keeper Louisa Zwart at right
(Postcard)

Springdale Post Office ca. 1908
Post office on left, railroad station on right.
(Postcard)

From 1883 to 1904, the downtown Post Office was located in the Townhall. We do not have a photo of the intact office, however, we recently acquired a photo showing the burnt out place after the 1904 fire.

post office after Town Hall fire 1904

After temporary quarters at the upper floor of the C.O. Miller Building, the Post Office moved to the Burlington Arcade, where it was located until 1914, when it was moved to the Looney-Berg Building on Atlantic Street, next to the Stamford Theater. There it remained until the current facility on Atlantic Street was built. Bids were taken on November 3, 1914. The building was completed 18 months later at a cost of $118,000. Its letter boxes were made by Yale & Towne, and the interior bronze work by Tiffany & Co. of New York

Thanks to a 1995 donation by the Post Office, we have construction photos from 1915.
Click on images to enlarge.


April 5, 1915	May 3, 1915	May 3, 1915

not dated	June 3, 1915	July 1, 1915	July 1, 1915	August 5, 1915

August 5, 1915	September 8, 1915	October 4, 1915	October 4, 1915	November 1, 1915

November 1, 1915	not dated	December 1, 1915	December 1, 1915	not dated

Which of the two postcards is correct? We suspect the one on the right…


postmarked 1916	postmarked 1928

Will the 1939 addition to this National Register-listed building be saved?

See the article below, courtesy Historic Neighborhood News, Fall 2001
of the Historic Neighborhood Preservation Program, Inc.

scanned article from Historic Neighborhood News

enlarged detail of disputed section

Photos © Renée Kahn

…and the Death of a tree

Post Office People


in 1884, the Post Office had only four employees (names are unknown)	Robert Whittaker, Postmaster 1921-1925

Stamford Post Office Personnel, 1926

Devices

Glenbrook Mailing Tag

This mailing tag with the post mark date of 29 Nov 1884 is the first canceling device used at th Gleenbrook office. Note the star within a star and blank circular center used on the “killer.”

First official postage meter setting in the United States!

The first official setting of a postage meter in the United States, manufactured at Stamford's Pitney-Bowes, was at the Stamford Post Office, November 16, 1920.

From left: Richard Plunkett, Assistant Postmaster. John Bohl, Postmaster. George Hein, Pitney-Bowes mail clerk.