History of Athens County, Ohio Post Offices
Prior to the year
1794, there was no mail route to the northwestern territory, nor any post
office north of the Ohio river west of Pittsburg. The only communication
the Ohio Company's settlers had with the east was by private hands, and
the receipt of letters or papers was a rare and interesting occurrence. In
the year 1794, a route was established from Pittsburg, via Washington,
Pennsylvania, West Liberty, Virginia, and Wheeling, to Limestone (now
Maysville, Kentucky), and Fort Washington (Cincinnati). From Pittsburg to
Wheeling the mail was carried by land, and from Wheeling down the Ohio
river in small boats, about twenty-four feet long, built much like a
whale-boat, and steered with a rudder. Each boat was manned by five
persons, well armed and provided against attacks by the Indians. Though
not covered, each of the little craft was furnished with a large
tarpaulin, which, in case of storm or other necessity, was used to cover
the arms, mail bags, etc. The boats, ascending and descending the river,
met and exchanged mails at Marietta, Gallipolis, and Maysville. The time
consumed was about twelve days from Cincinnati to Wheeling, and about half
that time from Wheeling to Cincinnati.* By this route, the inhabitants of
Washington county, and afterward those of Athens, received their mail
matter once in two or three weeks. In the year i800, the only post route
in southern Ohio was from Zanesville to Marietta. In 1802, a route was
established from Marietta, by way of Athens and Chillicothe, to
Cincinnati; and in 1804, the route from Marietta to Zanesville was
discontinued.
*Though not strictly germane to the subject, we may be excused for
presenting some facts concerning the early postal operations of the
government, showing the very small beginnings of our present vast and
beneficent system.
On the 1st of January, 1990, there were only seventy-five post offices in
the United States. There are now more than twenty-four thousand. For the
quarter ending December 13, 1789, the total receipts of the post office at
New York were $1,067 08; the emoluments of the post master amounted to
$317 32, and the incidental expenses of the office were $36 89. At the
Philadelphia post office, the receipts for the same period were $1,530 73;
post master's emoluments, $315 28, expenses of office, $77 84. The mail
was carried from Philadelphia to Pittsburg once in two weeks. The
contracts for carrying the mail to the southward of New York city, for
that year, amounted to $14,973 75; and to the eastward of the same place
to $6,003 15. From New York to Albany, the contractors received all the
postage for carrying the mail. The route from Boston to Providence, New
London, and New Haven, was an expense to the department of $520, for that
year. The route from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, was an expense of $800.
The department fell in debt $34 84 for the quarter. In the year 1825, the
mail was carried from Wheeling to Zanesville, Ohio, three times a week;
from Zanesville to Lancaster, three times a week; from Lancaster to
Cincinnati, twice a week; from Marietta to Zanesville, once a week; from
Marietta to Chillicothe, twice a week, and from Marietta to Lancaster,
once in two weeks. [American State Papers.]
The first post office in the county of Athens, was established at Athens
in January, 1804, and the first post master was Jehiel Gregory. The office
was kept at his house, across the river, east of Athens, where D. B.
Stewart's woolen factory is now situated. The office changed hands in the
spring of the same year, and Dr. Eliphaz Perkins was appointed post
master, and kept the office for a short time, on State street, near D. M.
Clayton's late residence, and afterward, for many years, in the brick
building now known as Ballard's corner.
The second post office established in the county was in Ames township, in
the year 1821. Loring B. Glazier was the first post master there, and the
office received the name of Amesville. Previous to the establishment of
this office, Judge Ames, Judge Walker, Doctor Walker, Abel Glazier, Judge
Cutler, and other citizens of the neighborhood, taking the Marietta paper,
received their papers from the mail carrier, who brought them in a way-bag
for distribution, for which service each person was required to pay fifty
cents a year to the carrier. During the early years of this century,
several copies of the National Intelligencer were taken in the Ames
settlement. It was received every two weeks, and was at once the great
news bringer from the outer world to the little community, and the
political gospel of all its readers. The writer has heard an aged
relative, herself a staunch adherent of the Jeffersonian school of
politics, relate with what eagerness the Intelligencer was awaited during
the war of 1812, and how its narratives of events, political and military,
were devoured by those who could read, and read aloud to those who could
not.
The following is a list of the post offices now in operation in the
county, in the order of their establishment, with the names of those who
have acted as post masters, from the first to the present:
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Athens County, Ohio
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County, Ohio