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ARCHIVE HOLDING FINDING GUIDES

Topical Collection: Postal History 1880-2010

Name of the Collection 
Topical Collection: Postal History 1880-2010
No Accession Number
0.40 cubic feet 


Provenance of the Collection
The contents have been collected by MHAHS staff the years.

Administrative History
A brief history of postal service in southwestern Dane County starts during the Wisconsin territorial period (July 4, 1836-May 29, 1848) when there was only one post office in this area.  It was located in or close to present-day Blue Mounds Village in Blue Mounds Township, Dane County.  The physical location of the post office moved back and forth over the Iowa and Dane county line near Blue Mounds Village as the small settlements in this area rose and fell in importance. From February 10, 1836 – May 17, 1839 the post office was at Moundville.  From May 18, 1839 – 1842 (or 1843) the post office was at Beaumont.  From 1842 (or 1843) to the present day the post office has been located in Blue Mounds Village.

After statehood (1848) the number of settlers and settlements grew and there was a concomitant increase in the number of post offices to serve the area. Below is a list of post offices in the Townships of Blue Mounds, Perry, Primrose, Springdale and Vermont with dates of their establishment, demise and later consolidation as well as their locations.  The Montrose post office in the Township of Montrose is included in this list because of the volume of Montrose correspondence and artifacts in the MHAHS archives.  The same is true of the Pine Bluff post office in the Township of Cross Plains.  Where “several locations” is listed, the post office was sited at different locations over its service life.


I.  Blue Mounds Township
            Blue Mounds     - February 10, 1836 to today                           Several locations
            Grit                  - July 18, 1878 to August 31, 1900.                 SE¼, Sec.35, T6N, R6E 
            Mount Horeb     - July 25, 1861 to today                                  Several locations


II.  Perry Township
            Forward            - March 4, 1872 to August 30, 1903.                NW¼, Sec.23, T5N, R6E  
            Perry                - July 10, 1857 to August 15, 1902.                 NE¼, Sec.7, T5N, R6E
            Spring              - May 5, 1896 to November 30, 1900.               NW¼, Sec.10, T5N, R6E


III. Primrose Township
            Primrose           - April 29, 1847 to August 15, 1900.                Several locations 

IV.  Springdale Township
            Pine Bluff           - May 23, 1882 to May 31, 1952.                      NE¼, Sec.4, T6N, R7E
                  Name changed to Klevenville April 27, 1891.   
            Henderson         - May 9, 1893 to January 31, 1900.                  SW ¼, Sec.14, T6N, R8E.
            Mt. Vernon        - June 14, 1854 to August 30, 1902.                SW ¼, Sec.34, T6N, R7E 
            Riley                 - May 3, 1882 to March 30, 1940.                     SE ¼, Sec.2, T6N, R7E
            Springdale         - April 9, 1850 to December 11, 1890.              NW¼, Sec.25, T6N, R7E

            Clantorf

V. Vermont Township
             Elvers
           Vermont
VI.  Montrose Township
             Montrose          - July 18, 1878 to August 31, 1900.                 NW¼, Sec.30, T5N, R8E

VII. Cross Plains Township
            Pine Bluff           - December 28, 1846 to May 9, 1855.               Several locations
                                    - March 6, 1856 to December 3, 1863.
                                    - April 25, 1864 to June 30, 1903.          
            Other Cross Plains P.O. was Cross Plains.


The rapid expansion of the rural population throughout the country in the latter half of the 19th century caused the Post Office Department to adopt a policy of locating post offices so no one had to go more than a few miles to pick up their mail.  Prior to that people picked up their mail in the closest town.  It was not delivered.  The Postmaster was often the proprietor of the general store and sought the Postmaster position, not so much for the modest salary it provided but because it brought people into his retail establishment.

As rapid as the expansion of post offices was between 1850 and 1895, the decline was just as fast between 1895 and 1905.   In 1891 the Post Office Department began to experiment with the direct delivery of mail to residents in rural areas. Called Rural Free Delivery (RFD), the system was largely in place by mid-19__.  Of the thirteen post offices listed above only five (Blue Mounds, Klevenville, Mount Horeb, Mount Vernon and Riley) survived the advent of the RFD system.  Today, only Blue Mounds and Mount Horeb have post offices.


Scope and Contents
This collection is organized into Series I, Envelope “covers” and Series II, Postal Memorabilia.

The term “cover” is used by postal history collectors to refer to envelopes.  Series I consists of “covers” (envelopes) of mail canceled at post offices in Mt. Horeb, Klevenville, Riley and Montrose.  This Series also includes “corner cards” which are envelopes with the printed return address in the upper left corner.  The addresses on the envelopes in this Series are from Mt. Horeb businesses from the late 19th century to the early 21st.  The Series also contains mail addressed to people within these communities showing the various stages of necessary detail a sender had to include on their envelopes. 

Series II includes general post office memorabilia, such as labels, official envelopes, Post Office forms, many unused postal cards and envelopes as well as a selection of used and unused stamps from the 1950’s to the early 2000 era.  It also includes envelopes franked (i.e. canceled) with commemorative community anniversary postmarks used for limited periods and applied only at the Mt. Horeb Post Office.


Restrictions:
None. 

Box Inventory to the Collection:
Box #              Contents of Folders                                    Date Span
                        Series I. Envelope/“Covers”
  1                    Mail to & from Montrose, Mt. Horeb,
                        Klevenville & Riley                                           1880-2010
  1                    Corner cards from Mt. Horeb businesses              1950-2010

                       
Series II: Postal Memorabilia
  2                    Post Office Memorabilia                                     1920-2010               
  2                    Postal cards and envelopes                                1960s
  2                    Used and unused commemorative stamps            1950-2005
  2                    Commemorative postmarks from
                        Mt. Horeb P.O.                                                 1990-2010

Collection Organized by: John A. Pare
Finding Guide Produced by: John A. Pare, October 21, 2011
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