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National Postal Museum

Smithsonian National Postal Museum


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What is a Star Route?
Transporting the Mail
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Finding the Right Fit
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Exhibits



Networking a Nation: The Star Route Service


       


The Stagecoach

"Stagecoach 1890s" stamp
Concord-style mail coaches first appeared in the 1820s and remained in use into the early 1900s. After 1845, federal law prohibited the Post Office Department from awarding extra fees to stagecoach contractors. Horseback riders soon replaced many of the stagecoaches. This coach was built in Concord, New Hampshire, by Lewis Downing in 1851. The mail was carried under the driver's seat. The driver or his boss contracted to carry this mail with “celerity, certainty, and security” between White River Junction and Woodstock, Vermont.
    1851 Concord stagecoach on display at the National Postal Museum    
       
       
   
Side view of stagecoach

Above: 1851 Concord stagecoach on display at the National Postal Museum
Left: Side view of stagecoach

     
   




Key Objects

star
Alaskan mail team

Finding the Right Fit >>

Whether riding on horseback, wagon wheels, or massive truck tires, contractors adopted methods that sped the movement of mail.





Key Objects





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