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In the year 1800, the only mail route in
southern Ohio was from Zanesville to Marietta by way of
Amesville, Athens and Chillicothe to Cincinnati. At the time of
statehood in 1803, there were only 14 post offices in Ohio.
The postage rate itself was based on the
distance the letter traveled and the number of sheets of paper used,
not a uniform rate as it is today. There was no home delivery.
People had to go to the post office to pick up all their mail,
even if it had been prepaid. A transportation system based on
walking or horse drawn carts led to post offices being located in
stores, mills, taverns, and even homes every few miles.
Home
delivery of mail began
in Cleveland and a few other cities in 1863 and spread
to over 400 other towns and cities by 1900. Home delivery in
rural areas, called Rural Free Delivery (or RFD), began in 1896 in
Jefferson County, West Virginia. The first Ohio RFD routes were established
that same year. Because placing a letter into the
mail often meant a walk or buggy ride of an hour
or more, the postal carriers not only delivered mail but collected it as
well. When people had to pick up their mail, there was a
need for a post office every few miles or within easy
travel distance. With the advent of Rural Free Delivery, this need was
greatly reduced. Consequently, a large number of small volume
rural offices were quickly closed. Ohio went from 3,376 post offices in 1900
to 1,928 in 1910, a loss of 43% of the operating offices
in just 10 years.
Listed below are the names
of each town and community in Perry county that had a post office.
Each community listed shows the dates the post office was opened and
the dates they closed. |
