How was mail delivered in the 1700s?

How was mail delivered in the 1700s?

However, in the mid-1700s, a letter might take as long as fourteen days to make the 109-mile trip between the two cities. In Franklin’s eighteenth century, most correspondence, both personal and business, was carried by hand. The most reliable postal route in the colonies was along the coast by ship.

How was mail delivered after the Pony Express?

One short-lived offshoot of the horseback system, the Pony Express, had riders on about 400 horses who could get letters from St. After 18 months, however, the Pony Express ceased to exist when the complicated operation became too expensive. Mail was later distributed via locomotive and eventually airplane.

How did they deliver mail in the olden days?

Steamboats were used for mail carrying where no roads existed. In the 1830s, trains transported some mail (4.5 miles in 35 minutes) in the East, but Americans were migrating and tracks would take decades to span to newly settled areas.

Which is the oldest mail service?

The first well-documented postal service was that of Rome. Organized at the time of Augustus Caesar (62 BCE – 14 CE), the service was called cursus publicus and was provided with light carriages (rhedæ) pulled by fast horses.

What is the oldest postal service?

Ancient Egyptians developed a postal service that dates back to 2000 B.C.; the oldest postal system in the world. The main mode of transportation was through the Nile River. The letters were placed in a box escorted by guards. At the time, the postal services were exclusive to the pharaohs.

How long did it take for the Pony Express to deliver mail?

10 days
In the mid-19th century, California-bound mail had to either be taken overland by a 25-day stagecoach or spend months inside a ship during a long sea voyage. The Pony Express, meanwhile, had an average delivery time of just 10 days.

How old is the mail system?

On July 26, 1775, the U.S. postal system is established by the Second Continental Congress, with Benjamin Franklin as its first postmaster general. Franklin (1706-1790) put in place the foundation for many aspects of today’s mail system.

How was mail delivered in the 19th century?

Mail delivery initially was performed on foot or horseback by messengers or people who were doing a friend or acquaintance a favor. In the 19th century, dedicated stagecoaches were used to deliver the mail. By 1813, the Post Office was already using steamboats to bring mail to post towns that were difficult to reach by road.

Which is the oldest postal system in the world?

Some Chinese sources claim mail or postal systems dating back to the Xia or Shang dynasties, which would be the oldest mailing service in the world. The earliest credible system of couriers was initiated by the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), who had relay stations every 30 li along major routes.

How did the Persian mail delivery system work?

The Persian system worked on stations (called Chapar-Khaneh ), where the message carrier (called Chapar) would ride to the next post, whereupon he would swap his horse with a fresh one, for maximum performance and delivery speed.

When was the busiest time of the Year for mail delivery?

Mail carriers in 1950s New York City head out during Christmas, the Postal Service’s busiest time of year. It’s a good thing the unofficial motto of the u.s. Postal Service–“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”–doesn’t mention Saturday mail delivery.