Sumner Postal History
Oxford County, Maine

last update for this page: 3 March 2021



Maine Postal History ------ Waterville Stamp Club


Thank you for the contributions to this page from James Husson and from the Strout family collection.

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During the history of the town of Sumner, there have been four post offices.

Briefly, the history of these four is as follows:
1. Barrett post office, a summer office, opened on 17 June 1901 through 28 February 1907.
2. Redding post office, a summer office, operated from 20 January 1899 through 30 May 1942.
3. Sumner (1) post office opened on 21 June 1811 and closed on 30 April 1935 (see last day postmark below).
4. West Sumner post office opened on 6 April 1833 and in 1996 was renamed as Sumner (2) post office, which is still operating.
In 1914, there were three post offices in what is now Sumner: Redding, Sumner (1), and West Sumner. (source: Post Route Map of the State of Maine 1914)
      
      (click on image to enlarge)


Thank you for the contributions to this page from James Husson.

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Postmarks from the town of Sumner include:

Barrett

Redding

Sumner (1)

Sumner (2)

West Sumner

Barrett
1901 June 17:
   Barrett post office opened. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)

date?:
   Barrett post office.
      
      (click on image to enlarge)


1906 January 1:
   Post card received in Barrett and handstamped on New Year's Day. The circular receiving postmark is approximately 29 mm in diameter. The pairs of horizontal bars to the right of the circle are approximately 4 mm apart on center. The circular postmark that ties the stamp to the post card has both the number of the day (1) and the unit's digit of the year (6) upside down.
      
      (click on image to enlarge)


1907 February 28:
   Barrett post office closed. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)


Sumner (1)
1811 June 21:
   Sumner (1) post office opened. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)

date?:
   Sumner (1) post office.
      
      (click on image to enlarge)

1935 April 1 through 1935 April 30 (last day for this postmark):
   Circular postmark is 31–33 mm in diameter. The outside vertical height of the four horizontal bars to the right of the circle is 19–20 mm.
         
      (click on an image to enlarge)

1935 April 30:
   Sumner (1) post office closed. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)


West Sumner
1833 April 6:
   West Sumner post office opened. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)

date?:
   West Sumner post office.
      
      (click on image to enlarge)

1966:
   West Sumner post office was renamed as Sumner (2) post office. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)