Neither Snow Nor Rain: The Postmaster
The battle for American Independence was underway. One way Americans kept in touch during what Thomas Paine called “the times that try men’s souls” was by horse-mounted mail delivery of communiqués and newspapers.
On July 26, 1775 — 250 years ago Saturday and only three months after the battles of Lexington and Concord — the Continental Congress established a national post office and named Benjamin Franklin as the nation’s first Postmaster General.
An Experienced Postmaster, Called Back To Service
In 1737, 31-year-old Benjamin Franklin was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia. The job didn’t pay much but the postmaster was granted franking privileges: The ability to use the mail at no cost.
Franklin had already built a successful business as a printer, shopkeeper and newspaper publisher. His new role meant he could send the Pennsylvania Gazette to his readers for free. He used his gift for self-promotion by writing “Free.B.Franklin” on his newspapers and envelopes.
In 1753, the British crown appointed Franklin and William Hunter, the postmaster of Williamsburg, Virginia, as joint postmaster for all 13 colonies. Hunter pretty much sat back and let Franklin do as he wanted. And for two decades, Franklin took it on himself to improve the colonies’ mail system, inspecting and measuring routes between towns and cities and setting up more efficient delivery.
He cut delivery time between Philadelphia and New York in half. Franklin also cut delivery rates for other newspapers — something that proved invaluable as the colonies began to object to British rules and taxes. By 1760, the colonial postal operation turned a profit for the first time.
National Portrait Gallery
Wikimedia Commons
Benjamin Franklin in an 1785 portrait — three years before his death — and on the first official U.S. Postal Service stamp in 1847.
But after a batch of revolutionary-themed letters between Franklin and Massachusetts Gov. Thomas Hutchinson were leaked to a Boston newspaper, the British government fired Franklin in January 1774.
Shortly afterward, colonial officials set up an alternative mail system they called the Constitutional Post. In July 1775, the Continental Congress hired Franklin to set up an entirely new postal service to serve from what is now Portland, Maine to Savannah, Georgia.
The U.S. Postal Service, By The Numbers
246,503 - Number of vehicles operated by the USPS.
154 million - number of residential addresses to which mail is delivered.
44% - Amount of the world's mail volume handled by the USPs.
79 million - Number of passport applications accepted annually by the USPS.
533,000 - Number of career USPS employees. It pays 2.1 billion in salaries and benefits every two weeks.
The Post Office Evolves
The Postal Act of 1789 upgraded the postal department, upgrading mail routes and addressing privacy.
By 1831, the U.S. Post Office ran twice as many post offices as Britain and five times as many as France. By the 1840s, however, average citizens became disheartened at the price of sending a letter. Congress responded by converting the post office into a service that no longer had to break even. In 1845, the Post Office slashed postage rates.
In 1970, Congress once again stepped up to remake the Postal Service into a government/business hybrid that remains subject to congressional oversight but has received no tax dollars since 1982. Instead, it’s a not-for-profit agency that covers its bills through postage and other services.
National Postal Museum.
A parcel post employee poses with a brand new parcel post wagon in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The Parcel Post service was launched on Jan. 1, 1913.
The Next Generation of mail Delivery
U.S. Postal Service
In October 2024, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a cornerstone for its next chapter: zero-emissions electric delivery vehicles. The vehicles are part of a 10-year, $9.6 billion investment with improved safety and comfort for letter carriers as well as better reliability. At one point, President Donald Trump’s 2025 budget proposal would have forced the USPS to abandon the plan but that was eliminated from the final version of the bill.
Volume of Mail Handled Per Year By The USPS
