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National Postal Museum Archives
Minneapolis, Minnesota Postal Operations History Collection
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NPMA.2024.8
- Dates:
-
1871-1971
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
2.42 Cubic feetThree (3) legal size document boxes; one (1) flat box (19 x 15 x 3 in.); one (1) flat box (12 x 15.5 x 3 in.); and two (2) oversize folders
- Repository:
This collection consists of scrapbooks, photographs, forms, manuals, a ledger book, brochures and clippings related to postal operations and postal related activities in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Subjects covered include Christmas delivery preparation and display guides; photographs of postal employees, postal buildings, postal operations and processing facilities, letter carrier bands, and conferences; postal exhibits; Postal People Day activities; Postal Week for Our People and Families activities; a register of postal position appointments; and accounting forms. The materials in this collection document postal operations and activities in the post offices in Minneapolis, revealing the day-to-day activities that occurred and the people behind those activities.
Content Description
Content Description
This collection consists of scrapbooks, photographs, forms, manuals, a ledger book, brochures and clippings related to postal operations and postal related activities in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Subjects covered include Christmas delivery preparation and display guides; photographs of postal employees, postal buildings, postal operations and processing facilities, letter carrier bands, and conferences; postal exhibits; Postal People Day activities; Postal Week for Our People and Families activities; a register of postal position appointments; and accounting forms.
The materials in this collection document postal operations and activities in the post offices in Minneapolis, revealing the day-to-day activities that occurred and the people behind those activities. Additionally documented are activities outside the scope of postal operations including letter carrier bands, the National Association of Postmasters of the United States, and the National Association of Post Office Mechanics.
Minneapolis postmasters documented include Cyrus Aldrich, 1867-1871; George H. Keith, 1871-1882; Orlo M. Laraway, 1882-1886; John J. Ankeny, 1886-1890; William D. Hale, 1890-1894; Franklin G. Holbrook, 1894-1898; William D. Hale, 1902-1914; Edward A. Purdy, 1914-1922; John R. Coan, 1935-1952; Leonard F. Ramberg, 1953-1957; Cleve R. Austin, 1957-1965; Walter John Hogan, 1966-1970; and Morton E. Layer, 1970-1979.
Arrangement
Arrangement
This collection is unarranged.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
The first post office in the Minneapolis area dates to 1847 when a post office and sawmill office was established at St. Anthony Falls on the bank of the Mississippi River, facing Main Street, near the end of Second Avenue, Southeast. Ard Godfrey, of Maine, was commissioned to build the sawmill and was appointed the first postmaster. Before the building of the post office, mail was inconsistently being brought by carrier from Fort Snelling, but now the new post office became part of a regular stage delivery route between St. Anthony and St. Paul. Now mail would arrive every ten to fourteen days.
While St. Anthony Falls was on the east side of the river, a lumbering town of some 300-400 inhabitants, Minneapolis, on the west side of the river, started as a portion of the Fort Snelling military reservation that was opened for settlement. Among its first inhabitants was Hezekiah Fletcher who served as assistant to the St. Anthony Falls postmaster. As assistant, Fletcher would go across the river once or twice a week for the mail and carry it around his hat until he came across the parties that the correspondence was for.
On January 7, 1854, Fletcher was appointed the first postmaster of Minneapolis, with the post office first located in a two-story frame building at the corner of High Street and Second Avenue South. Fletcher remained as postmaster until December 22 of the same year, when Carlos Wilcox, who had opened the first United States land office in Minneapolis, was appointed postmaster. Wilcox moved the post office to a double two-story frame building at the southeast corner of Washington Avenue and Ames Street (now Eight Avenue South) where it flourished, receiving mail by stage by way of St. Paul which received mail from eastern points by steamer two to three times a week.
In 1856 the first suspension bridge over the Mississippi River was built which created a second business center at Bridge Square where the post office has remained located ever since. In August 1873 the St. Anthony Falls post office merged with the Minneapolis post office. The exact location of the post office changed frequently during the earlier years due to development and mail volume which outgrew existing facilities. Between 1854 and 1889, the post office was in eleven different places for periods varying from one to four years.
The current Minneapolis main post office was completed in 1934 and is very close to occupying the same area where that first post office was in 1854. At a cost of $5 million at the time, it consists of four stories and a basement, consisting of an area of approximately 362,000 square feet.
Administration
Author
Mitch Toda, Head Archivist
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Laura Utke, 2024.
Processing Information
Processed by Mitch Toda, Head Archivist, September-October 2024
Digital Content
See all digital content in NPMA.2024.8Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Access to original archival materials is by appointment only. Researchers must submit request for appointment in writing. Please direct reference inquiries to the National Postal Museum Archives: NPM_Archives@si.edu.
Preferred Citation
Minneapolis, Minnesota Postal Operations History Collection, NPMA.2024.8, National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Conditions Governing Use
The National Postal Museum Archives makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and the NPM Rights and Reproductions for additional information. Please direct reference inquiries to the National Postal Museum Archives: NPM_Archives@si.edu.
Related Materials
Related Materials
The National Postal Museum's collections also contain materials related to Minneapolis. This includes examples of convention badges, Owney tags, and a banner.
Keywords
National Postal Museum Archives
P.O. Box 37012, MRC 570
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
NPM_Archives@si.edu
