Evening star., 1950-10-22
Post Office Memories
Early Postal Authorities Had Housing Problems;
Fires Forced Evacuation Twice in Eury 1905
By John CIoqett Proctor

tOIl SlGy, SPEAKS VI tllc Jul uIIllIlSb
November 8, 1900, of the tempo
rary quarters of the War Depart
ment, then located in Mr.. Jack
sons home, on the south side OF
Pennsylvania avenue a little east
of Twenty second. and says: 1.-THE
General Post Office was then kept
in the War Office Building.
Mr.. A. Bradley, the Assistant POST
master General, lived then on
Ninth street between E and F
streets, but shortly afterward
moved to his own house, in the
vicinity of the General Post Office.
now the War Office"
From Mr.. Hines statement and
from other reliable sources, it is
evident that the Post Office De-
partment did not remain long on
this site, but soon afterward re-
moved into Southwest Executive
Building, where it was assigned
four of the 25 available rooms.
The Southwest Executive Build
ing was situated west of the White
House and was erected between
1899 and 1901 for the accommo-
dation of the State. War and Navy
Departments. 1t continued in this
joint use until August "a, 1914.
when it was destroyed by the
British.
Moved to Blodgett Hotel
In 1910 the Government appro-
priated $4,000 for the purchase
of the Blodgett Hotel property, an
unfinished building on the north
side of E street between Seventh
and Eighth streets NV, which
was marked with a bronze tablet
by the Committee on Historic
Sites July 4. 1913.
After making such repairs as
were necessary, the Post Office
Department late in 1912 moved
into this building, and here 1t
remained until December Is. 1886.
when the structure was destroyed
by fire, together with all accu-
mulated mail. The City Post
Office also occupied a portion of
this building and all the early
models and specifications Of the
latter were lost.
After this disastrous fire. the
department moved to Fuller's
Hotel, on the site of the Willard.
For this accommodation the Gov
ernment paid a rental of $4,000 a
year, with $500 for immediate
possession.
When the Post Office Depart
ment moved to Washington there
were but 750 post Offices in the
United States. Postage stamps
were unknown. and, indeed, did
not make their appearance until
nearly half century later. Steam
cars and steamboats, had not be-
gun to operate.
High Rates for Mail
When the Government was
moved here the stagecoach was.
of course. the principal means
used for this purpose, and it car
ried, besides the mail. as many
passengers as the vehicle would
hold
The charges for carrying the
mail in those days would now be
considered unreasonable and pro-
hibitive For instance, in 1916
the rates for single letters were.
for distance not exceeding 80
miles, 6 cents; over 80 and not ex-
ceeding 80 miles, 10 cents; over 80
and not exceeding $50 miles, 1919
cents; over $50 and not exceeding
400 miles, 1924 cents. and over
400 miles, 25 cents. The postage
of newspapers, magazines and
pamphlets was relatively high in
proportion.
In 1900 it took 40 days to con-
vey letter from Portland, Me.
to Savannah, Ca; from Falmouth
to Savannah, 20 days: from Phila-
delphia to Nashville, Tenn, %
days, and from Philadelphia to
Lexington, KY. 80 days.
City of the Future
Less than a year after the Capt.
tai was moved here Thomas JET
ferson was inaugurated President.
Gouverneur Morris, who attended
the ceremony, stated that the
road from Annapolis to Wash
lngton was so deep in mud that
the stage was stalled and stuck
fast. 1t took him 10 hours to travel
Is miles. and after seeing the
city he wrote:
I'VE only need here houses,
cellars, kitchens, scholarly men,
amiable women, and few other
such trifles to possess a perfect
city. In word, this is the best
city in the world to live in-in
the future"