United States Post Office Department
The Post Office Department is the former name of the United States Postal Service when it was a Cabinet department. It was headed by the United States Postmaster General.
| United States Post Office Department | |
|---|---|
| 180px | |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | February 20, 1792 |
| Dissolved | July 1, 1971 |
| Superseding agency | United States Postal Service |
| Agency executive | United States Postmaster General |
The Postal Service Act signed by President George Washington on February 20, 1792 established the Department. Postmaster General John McLean was the first to call it the Post Office Department rather than just the "Post Office." The organization became more important in the government when President Andrew Jackson asked his Postmaster General, William T. Barry, to sit as a member of the Cabinet.[1]
During the Civil War, postal services in the Confederacy were provided by the Confederate States of America Post Office Department, headed by Postmaster General John Henninger Reagan.
The Postal Reorganization Act signed by President Richard Nixon on August 12, 1970, replaced the cabinet-level Post Office Department with the independent United States Postal Service. The Act took effect on July 1, 1971.
United States Post Office Department Media
- USPostRoadMap1796.jpg
First national postal road map, created in 1796 by Assistant Postmaster General Abraham Bradley
- First US Stamps 1847 Issue.jpg
First U.S. postage stamps, authorized by Congress March 3, 1847. Earliest known use of the 5¢ Franklin is July 7, 1847, and the 10¢ Washington is July 2, 1847.
- Historic Post Office in Mineral Wells, Texas.JPG
Mineral Wells, Texas, post office, built between 1911 and 1913
- FortKnoxGold002.jpg
Mail truck loaded with gold leaving the New York City Assay Office in 1941
