Happy 121st birthday to the NRLCA
September 12, 1903 is a historic date for the NRLCA. It was on that day that a Constitution and bylaws were adopted and the first officers were elected at the first NRLCA National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
History
Mrs. Mamie Thomas, first female rural mail carrier delivered in Vicksburg
In 1914, Mrs. Mamie Thomas made history when she became the first female rural mail carrier in the United States. Using a buggy to deliver mail to the area southeast of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Mrs. Thomas paved the way for future generations of women to enter the male-dominated field of mail delivery. Born in 1873 in … Read more
Few People Know West Virginia Was Home To The First Rural Free Delivery Service In America
Here’s a fun piece of historical trivia that you might not have known about West Virginia: our state was home to the first five rural free mail delivery routes offered by the US Postal Service in the nation. Rural free delivery, a United States service providing free mail delivery to residents of rural areas, was … Read more
On this day in 1971 the first union contracts were signed with USPS
On this day in 1971, the NRLCA and other postal unions entered into our first-ever contract with the US Postal Service, just days after the USPS formed as a result of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. Check out these historic pages from the National Rural Letter Carrier magazine that summer! #postalhistory
History: Rural Free Delivery
The RFD is a government mail service, where mail carriers travel rural routes to deliver and pickup mail from roadside mail boxes. As of 2022, the USPS has around 133,000 mail carriers serving around 80,000 rural mail routes. Many people even today have rural free mail delivery rather than paying a monthly fee for a … Read more
Few People Know West Virginia Was Home To The First Rural Free Delivery Service In America
Rural free delivery, a United States service providing free mail delivery to residents of rural areas, was first introduced as an official offering of the United States Postal Service (USPS) in 1896.
Mrs. Mamie Thomas, first female rural mail carrier delivered in Vicksburg
Born in 1873 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Mamie Thomas grew up in a time when women’s opportunities were limited. However, she was determined to make a difference and break through the barriers that kept her and other women from achieving their goals. After marrying John Thomas, she moved to the small community of Beechwood, Mississippi, where … Read more
On October 1, 1896, rural free delivery (RFD) service began
On October 1, 1896, rural free delivery (RFD) service began in Charles Town, Halltown, and Uvilla in West Virginia, Postmaster General Wilson’s home state. Within a year, 44 routes were operating in 29 states. Just five days before Christmas in 1899, the Post Office Department decided to experiment with extending RFD across an entire county. … Read more
Today in 1912 a rural carrier did this for the first time
A rural carrier in Bennington County, VT, was the first to deliver mail by car on a rural route today in 1912. — Postal Museum (@PostalMuseum) August 7, 2014 Twitter / PostalMuseum: A rural carrier in Bennington …. Shortly thereafter rural mail might have been delivered in one of these Rural Free Delivery vehicles.