Benton Postal History
Kennebec County, Maine
last update for this page: 5 July 2021
Maine Postal History
------
Waterville Stamp Club
Thank you for the contriutions to this page from James Husson, Kelvin Kindahl, and the Strout family collection.
During the history of the town of Benton, there have been four post offices.
Briefly, the history of these four is as follows:
1. On 11 May 1842, Clinton (1) post office became renamed as Sebasticook post office, which in turn became renamed on 21 June 1852 as Benton post office. Benton post office closed on 7 February 1907, reopened on 28 February 1907, and closed on 29 February 1956.
2. Benton Falls post office opened on 31 May 1878 and closed on 31 January 1914.
3. Benton Station post office opened on 27 January 1888 and closed on 13 April 1973.
4. East Benton post office was established on 5 August 1858 and was renamed as Preston Corner post office on 28 December 1887. Preston Corner post office was renamed as East Benton post office on 29 May 1891 and under the latter name closed on 30 June 1903.
In 1914, there were two post offices in Benton: Benton and Benton Station. (source: Post Route Map of the State of Maine 1914)
(click on image to enlarge)
Postmarks from the town of Benton include:
Benton
1852 June 21:
The former Sebasticook post office was renamed as Benton post office. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)
1901 January [14?]: date obtained from back of cover
The circular postmark is 27–28 mm in diameter.
(click on image to enlarge)
1907 February 7:
Benton post office closed. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)
1907 February 28:
Benton post office re-opened. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)
1923 February:
The circular postmark is 32 mm in diameter. The outside vertical height of the four horizontal bars to the right of the circle is 19 mm.
(click on image to enlarge)
1937 July 23:
The circular postmark is 30 mm in diameter. The outside vertical height of the four horizontal bars to the right of the circle is 19 mm.
(click on image to enlarge)
1950 June 26:
The circular postmark is 32 mm in diameter. The outside vertical height of the four horizontal bars to the right of the circle is 19 mm. Note that the lower right cover was postmarked on the last day of the Benton post office.
(click on image to enlarge)
1956 February 29:
The circular postmark is 33 mm in diameter. The outside vertical height of the four horizontal bars to the right of the circle is 19 mm. Note that this cover was postmarked on the last day of the Benton post office.
(click on image to enlarge)
1956 February 29:
Benton post office closed. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)
Benton Falls
1878 May 31:
Benton Falls post office opened. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)
1881 March 23:
The circular postmark is 27 mm in diameter. The outside vertical height of the four horizontal bars to the right of the circle 19 mm.
(click on image to enlarge)
1914 January 31:
Benton Falls post office closed. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)
Benton Station
1888 January 27:
Benton Station post office opened. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)
1937 July 24 through 1939 February 13:
The circular postmark is 31 mm in diameter. The outside vertical height of the four horizontal bars to the right of the circle is 19 mm. The item at the lower left was the form sent by a delivery post office, back to a publisher who had sent something with “Address Correction Requested.” In this case, the correction was that the recipient had moved, but left no forwarding address. The publisher paid 2 cents for the postage and Address Correction fee, as shown by the 2-cent postage due stamp, canceled at Augusta by a mute (undated) double oval cancel, which is very blurry.
(click on an image to enlarge)
1950 June 28:
The circular postmark is 33 mm in diameter. The outside vertical height of the four horizontal bars to the right of the circle is 18 mm.
(click on image to enlarge)
1954 December 24:
The circular postmark is 31–32 mm in diameter. The four horizontal bars to the right of the circle are approximately 5 mm apart on center.
(click on image to enlarge)
1971 May 13:
The circular postmark is 34 mm in diameter. The outside vertical height of the four horizontal bars to the right of the circle is 20 mm.
(click on image to enlarge)
1973 April 13:
Benton Station post office closed. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)
East Benton
1858 August 5:
East Benton post office opened. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)
1863? March 3:
The manuscript postmark is approximately 73 mm long.
(click on image to enlarge)
1887 December 28:
East Benton post office was renamed as Preston Corner post office. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)
1891 May 29:
The former Preston Corner post office was renamed as East Benton post office. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)
1899 [month?] 17:
The circular postmark is 27.5 mm in diameter.
(click on image to enlarge)
1903 June 30:
East Benton post office closed. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)