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- Route agent postmark handstamp
Route agent postmark handstamp
Object Details
- Description
- "BOST.& WIL'MET. AGT." is a Route Agent postmarker. It was used on the mail car between Boston, Massachusetts, and Willimantic, Connecticut. This route was eighty-six miles and operated over the New York and New England Railroad. Prior to 1874, the route was the Boston & Southbridge Agent. On January 15, 1879, the route became the Boston & Waterbury Agent.
- Although the postmarker has an 'e,' a letter which 'Willimantic' lacks, this is the only closely-named route. Errors in postmarker orders are known to have occurred and an 'e' and 'a' in manuscript may have appeared similar since the requisition was written in long-hand. The device was made at the Chambers shop in Lodge, Virginia, between 1874 and 1878. It was more likely produced closer to 1874, when the route was established.
- Reference:
- Kay, John L. Directory of Route Agent Routes. Mobile Post Office Society, 1990.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- 1874-1879
- Object number
- 1992.2002.406
- Type
- Mail Processing Equipment
- Medium
- wood
- Dimensions
- 1.12 in (2.86 cm), diameter
- Place
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Topic
- Civil War and Reconstruction (1860-1877)
- The Gilded Age (1877-1920)
- Mail Processing
- Record ID
- npm_1992.2002.406
- Usage
- Not determined
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