Old Town Postal History

Old Town Postal History
Penobscot County, Maine

last update for this page: 16 October 2020

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

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

During the history of Old Town, there have been eight post offices.

Briefly, the history of these eight is as follows:
1. Blakesburg post office (in Bradford) was renamed on 23 September 1821 as Pushaw (1) post office, which was reamed on 3 July 1828 as Kirkland post office (in Hudson).
2. Great Works (1) post office opened on 20 February 1826 and on 19 January 1880 was renamed as Bradley post office.
3. Old Town post office opened on 3 January 1825 and is still operating.
4. Pea Cove post office opened on 18 June 1871, closed on 26 October 1906, re-opened on 15 November 1906, and closed on 15 July 1909.
5. Pushaw (2) post office opened on 20 November 1899 and closed on 14 March 1906.
6. Stillwater post office was established on 28 November 1840 and was renamed on 4 June 1841 as Upper Stillwater post office. This was renamed on 15 October 1892 as Stillwater post office, which is still operating.
7. West Great Works post office was renamed on 13 June 1890 as Great Works (2) post office, which was renamed on 14 September 1962 as Great Works Sta. Old Town. The latter closed on 1 September 1977.
8. West Old Town post office opened on 13 February 1886 and closed on 31 May 1919.

In 1914, there were four post offices in what is now Old Town: Great Works (2), Old Town, Stillwater, and West Old Town. (source: Post Route Map of the State of Maine 1914)

(click on image to enlarge)

Postmarks from Old Town include:

Great Works (1)
Great Works (2)

Great Works Sta. Old Town
Old Town

Pea Cove
Pushaw (1)

Pushaw (2)
Stillwater

Upper Stillwater
West Oldtown

Great Works (1)
1826 February 20:
   Great Works (1) post office opened. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)

year? January 9:
   The circular postmark is […] mm in diameter.

      (click on image to enlarge)

1880 January 19:
   Great Works (1) post office was renamed as Bradley post office (in Bradley). (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)

Great Works (2)
1890 June 13:
   The former West Great Works post office was renamed as Great Works (2) post office. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)

1938 June 22:
   The circular postmark is approximately 33 mm in diameter.

      (click on image to enlarge)

1962 September 14:
   Great Works (2) post office was renamed as Great Works Sta. Old Town. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)

Old Town
1825 January 3:
   Old Town post office opened. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)

1846 May 16:
   The circular postmark is approximately 30 mm in diameter. (notation; letter)

      (click on image to enlarge)

1846 July 9:
   The circular postmark is approximately 30 mm in diameter. (notation; letter [page 1], letter [page 2])

      (click on image to enlarge)

1851 March 21:
   The circular postmark is approximately 30 mm in diameter. (notation; letter [page 1], letter [page 2])

      (click on image to enlarge)

1854 January 19:
   The circular postmark is approximately 30 mm in diameter. (notation; letter)

      (click on image to enlarge)

1899 November 1 through 1906 May 24:
   The circular postmark is 27–28 mm in diameter.

      (click on an image to enlarge)

date?:
   Old Town post office.

      (click on image to enlarge)

1918 December 20:
   The circular postmark is 27–28 mm in diameter.

      (click on image to enlarge)

1922 May 2 through 1925 December 23:
   The circular postmark is 22–23 mm in diameter.

      (lick on an image to enlarge)

date?:
   Old Town post office.

      (click on image to enlarge)

1932 December 20 through 1946 May 24:
   The circular postmark is 20–22 mm in diameter.

      (click on an image to enlarge)

1939 December 4 through 1946 June 14:
   The circular postmark is approximately 30 mm in diameter.

      (click on an image to enlarge)

2020:
   Old Town post office. 141 Center Street; Old Town, Maine  04468. Lat./Long.: N 44°56′04″ x W 68°38′48″

      (click on image to enlarge)

today:
   Old Town post office is still in operation.

Stillwater
1892 October 15:
   The former Upper Stillwater post office was renamed as Stillwater post office. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)

1901 July 8:
   The circular postmark is […] mm in diameter.

      (click on image to enlarge)

1919 March 26:
   The circular postmark is […] mm in diameter. The outside vertical height of the four horizontal bars to the right of the circle is approximately 19 mm.

      (click on image to enlarge)

2020:
   Stillwater post office. 441 Bennoch Road; Stillwater, Maine  04489. Lat./Long.: N 44°54′49″ x W 68°41′21″

      (click on image to enlarge)

today:
   Stillwater post office is still in operation.

Upper Stillwater
1841 June 4:
   The former Stillwater post office was renamed as Upper Stillwater post office. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)

1849 November 5:
   The outer circle of the postmark is […] mm in diameter. The inner circle, […] mm in diameter. (letter [page 1]; letter [page 2])

      (click on image to enlarge)

year? January 15:
   The outer circle of the postmark is […] mm in diameter. The inner circle, […] mm in diameter.

      (click on image to enlarge)

year? August 18:
   The outer circle of the postmark is 24–25 mm in diameter. The inner circle, 14–15 mm in diameter.

      (click on image to enlarge)

1886 March 23: [date determined from reverse]
   The circular postmark is 26–27 mm in diameter.

      (click on image to enlarge)

1887 August 1:
   The circular postmark is 25–26 mm in diameter.

(click on image to enlarge)

1892 October 15:
Upper Stillwater post office was renamed as Stillwater post office. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)