N for North Westchester
NORTH WESTCHESTER POST OFFICE
The North Westchester Post Office was located on the west and north side of Colchester on Route 149 close to today’s Norton Park near the Jeremy River. The original post office building was destroyed by fire in February 16, 1951, and was relocated to a smaller building up the street across from what is now the Airline Trail.
In September 16, 1873, the U.S. Postmaster General approved the establishment of the post office with Lucius A. Carrier appointed as the first postmaster.
Barry J. Donahue was the last appointed postmaster in 1980, and after his term ended, the post office was run by “Officers-In-Charge” until it was closed in 1986.
When Postmaster Carrier was sworn in for the new post office, he was required to appoint an assistant postmaster to ensure the post office stayed open if he was sick or out of town. There is no record of who he chose, but in many rural post offices, quite often the assistant would be the postmaster’s wife.
Back then, a letter or package to be mailed had to be brought to the post office in person. Once the postmaster was handed the item, he would then write the name of the post office, the date it would leave his post office, and the amount of postage. He also sorted and bundled the outgoing mail in packages marked to expedite their way either directly to their destination or routed through the appropriate distribution office. Paperwork had to be properly prepared and attached to the bundles.
The receiving postmaster also had to check the paperwork and the contents of the bundles to make sure none of the letters were undercharged or overcharged.