Name/Title
Rural carrier's conveyancesEntry/Object ID
IMG3551 veDescription
The first rural carriers in Jefferson County averaged about 20 miles a day on horseback. In early days carriers had to deal with difficult weather and rough roads. As horse-drawn buggies with enclosed fronts replaced horseback, many had to have charcoal heaters to ward off wintry blasts. In the early 1900s roads often became impassable in muddy weather. Carriers supplied their own transportation - usually horses and wagons until, in 1929, the Post Office Department noted that improved roads had led to "almost a complete change in rural delivery from horse-drawn vehicles to motor cars." (Annual Report of the Postmaster General, 1929, p. 26)
Rural Free Delivery Service even helped promote the "good roads" movement at the turn of the century. Postmasters had the right to refuse service to any route with poorly kept roads, which encouraged citizens to build, maintain and repair local roads and bridges.
Upper: National Rural Letter Carrier logo from their 1946 Golden Jubilee publication. (LIB697)
Lower: Mail-delivery wagon pulled by a horse in a parade in Charles Town on Washington Street (possibly the 1976 U. S. Bicentennial parade) with unidentified driver. Photographed by Gary Kable in 1976. (IMG3551)