February 15, 1828: Boyertown Post Office Established Linking Residents to Outside World

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

February 15, 1828: The United States Postal Service has established an office in the Union House (now the Boyertown Inn), and Boyerstown is the official name (the “s” will quickly disappear from use). It is now recognized as being distinct from Colebrookdale Township.

Daniel Boyer has been appointed postmaster and regular mail service begun. People gathered at the inn, waiting for the mail to arrive; you rented a lock box at the post office for your mail or you picked it up at the window. A stage coach left about 3 AM every day for Philadelphia, carrying the mail to and from this post office, and daily contact with that city was established.

This postal service was, for many, the only link with the outside world. There was no home delivery of the mail until 1921, and it was then mandatory to use a house number and street address to receive mail delivered to the house.

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