Nation’s first PMG, Benjamin Franklin, was born 318 years ago on January 17

January 12, 2023 Perhaps it’s fitting that the Postal Service, an organization that has touched every corner of American life, can trace its roots to the most quintessential American. Benjamin Franklin, the nation’s first postmaster general, was born 318 years ago on Jan. 17, 1706. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and…

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USPS: Early Ben Franklin postal ledgers now online

The ledgers that Benjamin Franklin kept when he was Philadelphia’s Postmaster recently became available online — in time for this weekend’s 245th anniversary of the American postal system’s birth. Franklin became America’s first Postmaster General 245 years ago when he was appointed to that position by the Second Continental Congress on July 26, 1775. Prior…

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Ben Franklin, postal purveyor

To Benjamin Franklin’s successes in science, statecraft, and slyness, add a lesser-known exploit: postal service. Among the many hardships of colonial life, lack of communication perhaps ranked right behind hunger and fear. In the absence of a service operated by the British crown, many fledgling colonies instituted private mail systems. In 1683, the Pennsylvania Assembly…

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What happened to request for Presidential Proclamation establishing a “Postal Heritage Day”?

The Postal Service was established on July 26, 1775, when an act of the Second Continental Congress created the United States Post Office Department, and named Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General.  July 26, 2015 will be the agency’s 240th birthday. On June 5, 2015, the NPMHU, APWU, NALC and NRLCA jointly endorsed a request…

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February 20, 1792 – A big day in the history of the United States Postal Service

On February 20, 1792, President George Washington officially created the modern United States Postal Service by signing a sweeping act that promoted a free press and put privacy safeguards in place. Mail delivery and an earlier version of the Service had been in place since 1775, when Benjamin Franklin was named as the first postmaster…

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Red letter day: The USPS poised to deliver ‘frank appraisal’ of its status

By Jennifer Harper – Monday, January 5, 2015 Now that the holiday rush is over, change is afoot in the nation’s mail. On Tuesday, outgoing Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, who has led the oft-challenged U.S. Postal Service for four years, heads to the National Press Club for some candid talk about the future of an…

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Strike a blow for democracy – save Canyon’s post office

Benjamin Franklin must have been the coolest guy in the world to hang out with at a coffee shop. He had the brilliance to look at the small stuff (and had to invent bifocals to do it) while seeing the big picture: America can be the strongest and most democratic country in the world, he…

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Following Ben Franklin’s Path Down the North Fork (via postal rate mile markers)

If you are steeped in Southold lore, you know about the day in 1755 when Benjamin Franklin, then the postmaster for the British colonies, took a trip down the North Fork to measure the distance from the Suffolk County courthouse in Riverhead to the Oysterponds ferry in Orient, with a crew who placed granite mile…

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