STAMPLESS ERA POST OFFICE OF NEW JERSEY



STAMPLESS ERA POST OFFICES OF NEW JERSEY

The attached file is a list of post offices that existed in New Jersey in the stampless era, usually considered to be from 1776 to 1855 - we have however included post offices formed up through 1857 in our list. We have not revisited original sources: these lists are a compilation of the fine work of Smith & Kay and Coles [see references]. We have indicated the Smith and Kay listings [at left] and if changes have been made in dates from Smith & Kay, these are indicated by inserted comments, in most cases indicating a Coles date. In a few cases, we have leaned on experts in a particular county for additional information, and that is indicated. Coles and Coles Update dates are listed under earliest and latest know stampless manuscript cancels, and earliest handstamp. There may be errors, and we would be happy to hear about them, with the source of the updated information. This list may be used as a beginning point, but it is of course no substitute for researching the archives yourself.

The attached file is in Excel. It can be sorted as you wish, using the Sort… on the upper bar. It is highly recommended that you save this file first as an archive, and then save it again by a different name, so that you have a reference file in case changes are made that you do not wish to keep, but have inadvertently saved.

It has been sorted for a full alphabetical list of post offices in the stampless era, and then subdivided into separate files by counties. These sheets you will see as tabs at the bottom of the window. Those counties not visible are accessible by using the arrows at the left to move across the bottom.

We have used a number of different designations for post office status, as follows:

Status:

CUR=Active PO;

H=Hiatus;

NC=Name Change;

CC=County Change;

DPO - Discontinued [Dead] PO

Note that H indicates simply a hiatus in service - times when the post office closed and then reopened at a later date, so look for a later version of that post office by the same name. The same is true of post offices with CC designations: this means that the post office moved to a different county, but under the same name. [Moved is the wrong word - what it reflects in most cases is the formation of new counties, so that a post office that was, for example, in Bergen county, now becomes a post office in Union county.] A name change designation [NC] has been used when the post office has changed its name without interruption in service; this can be a completely different name, or simply a change in spelling, as directed by the postal administration, to a more compact name [Marlsborough to Marlsboro, for example]. DPO is used in this listing only when the post office name was literally discontinued, without changing to another name.

It is important to keep in mind that you are looking at a listing of post offices only in the stampless era - and while you will see dates of closing beyond 1857, a post office might well have closed and reopened in the period beyond 1857, and thus not be a DPO. Look for an H - which indicates a hiatus in service - for post offices that then continued into a later period. A change to a different county which occurred after the stampless era may not show that post office, now in the new county.

It will be important, in tracing the life of a post office, to become familiar with county changes in New Jersey, and these are included below. A post office established in Sussex County in 1821 which them became part of Warren County in 1824, will show 3 years in service in Sussex, and these must be added to the years in service in Warren to know the true length of years in service for that post office.

These files are made to be used largely on your computer; however, you may print them out. Print areas have been set to eliminate the information at the far right [zip codes and notes, for the most part on the county files] as usually not of interest when using the printed list. This also makes fewer pages, and allows a printout that is not too small to read. However, if you wish to print out the whole page, you will need to change the print area, which you do by selecting the area you wish to print, and going to the file menu and clicking Print area, then Set Print Area. It is recommended that you preview your document before printing, as you may want to reduce it in size, etc.

If you need help, just let us know. Email NJPostalHistory@.

Feb 2006

Bibliography:

Chafetz, Donald, The Postal Markings of New Jersey Stampless Covers: An Update, NJPHS, Morristown NJ, 2004

Coles, William C. Jr., The Postal Markings of New Jersey Stampless Covers, The collectors Club of Chicago, Chicago, 1983.

Kay, John L. & Smith, Chester M., Jr. New Jersey Postal History, Quarterman Publications, Lawrence MA, 1977.

County changes in New Jersey

COUNTY DESIGNATIONS

New Jersey currently has 21 counties. 13 of those were established by 1789, and are listed below. All other counties were formed from those original 13; thus towns within many counties changed their county designation within the time frame of stampless markings. The table below indicates the dates of the counties formed later, and the original counties from which they were created. You will note these dates in many of the listings of New Jersey post offices, as they changed from their original county to the newly formed county.

Original 13 Counties with date of formation

|1683 Bergen [1-Mar] |1686 Gloucester [28-May] |1714 Hunterdon [13-Mar] |

|1683 Essex [1-Mar] |1688 Somerset [May] |1739 Morris [15-Mar] |

|1683 Middlesex [1-Mar] |1692 Cape May [12-Nov] |1748 Cumberland [19-Jan]) |

|1683 Monmouth [1-Mar] |1694 Burlington [17-May] |1753 Sussex [16-May] |

| |1694 Salem [17- May] | |

Counties created after 1789

|Date formed |New County |Formed from: |

|20-Nov 1824 |Warren |Sussex |

|7-Feb 1837 |Atlantic |Gloucester |

|7 Feb 1837 |Passaic |Bergen & Essex |

|22-Feb 1838 |Mercer |Burlington, Hunterdon & Middlesex |

|22-Feb 1840 |Hudson |Bergen |

|13-Mar 1844 |Camden |Gloucester |

|15-Feb 1850 |Ocean |Monmouth |

|19-Mar 1857 |Union |Essex & Middlesex |

Sources:

Don Chafetz, The Postal Markings o f New Jersey Stampless Covers, An Update, NJPHS, Morristown, NJ 2004

William C. Coles, Jr., The Postal Markings of New Jersey Stampless Covers, Collectors Club of Chicago, 1983

John L. Kay and Chester M. Smith, Jr., New Jersey Postal History, Quarterman Publications Inc., Lawrence, Mass., 1977

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