Chester County Post Offices
A Brief History by William R. Schultz in an article he wrote back in our 2004 Chester County Day Newspaper. In 2004 we were also in the Southwest Quadrant of Chester County. We certainly enjoy the timeless articles that have been featured in our newspapers.
ONE OF THE KEYS to understanding the history of each town in Chester County is to include an overview of the creation and demise of each of the numerous post offices that existed in the county. Each town usually had a store, a place of worship, sometimes a train station, of course a “main street”, and to be recognized as a town, it had to have a post office. The post office gave the town a place on the maps and a name identity to the residents and nonresidents. Downingtown, the oldest post office in Chester County, opened in 1796.
Reliable sources indicate there were nine Chester County post offices in operation in 1804, two hundred twenty-one years ago: Charleston, Chatham, Cochranville, Downingtown, Kennett Square, New Garden, New London Cross Roads, West Chester, and Willistown. The mail prior to 1847 moved without stamps and the receiver paid for the postage, generally determined by the number of pages and/or the distance. The mail was not delivered to individual homes in Chester County until well after 1890. Prior to home mail delivery, the mail was retrieved at the post office by the receiver who read in the newspaper that he or she had mail!
Reliable sources indicate there were nine Chester County post offices in operation in 1804, two hundred twenty-one years ago: Charleston, Chatham, Cochranville, Downingtown, Kennett Square, New Garden, New London Cross Roads, West Chester, and Willistown. The mail prior to 1847 moved without stamps and the receiver paid for the postage, generally determined by the number of pages and/or the distance. The mail was not delivered to individual homes in Chester County until well after 1890. Prior to home mail delivery, the mail was retrieved at the post office by the receiver who read in the newspaper that he or she had mail!
The southwestern area of Chester County had numerous post offices, but many no longer are operating (sadly). The 250 post offices that operated at one time have been reduced to fifty(ish) today. The following lists the post offices of southwestern Chester County with the year each opened: Avondale 188, Barnsley 1887, Chatham 1802, Chrome 1870, Cochranville 1802, Corrine 1889, Cream 1895, Derbydown 1893, Dugdale 1879, Elk Dale 1849, Elk Mills 1869, Elkview 1861, Forestville 1852, Fountain Mills 1851, Fremont 1861, Glen Roy 1857, Hero 1892, Hopewell Cotton Works 1830, Hickory Hill 1850, Jennersville 1814, Hayesville 1850, Kaolin 1868, Kelton 1871, Kemblesville 1823, Lewisville 1848, Lincoln University 1869, Londonerry 1813, London Grove 1810,New Garden 1802, New London 1847, Nottingham 1853, Oxford 1805, Russelville 1823, Stock 1897, Toughkenamon 1868, Townsend 1881, Tweedale 18812, West Grove Station 1864, West Grove 1828 ad Wickerton 1892.
You can find more information on the post offices of Chester County in Robert E Brinton Collection, a 1930’s survey of sites used as post offices throughout Chester County in the Chester County Historical Society Library and Pennsylvania Postal History, by John L. Kay and Chester M. Smith, 1995 edition.
Consider the importance of the local post office in old Chester County prior to the use of email, television, radio and the cell phone! And there was no “junk” mail!