The National Postal Museum, located opposite Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States, covers large portions of the postal history of the United States and other countries. It was established through joint agreement between the United States Postal Service and the Smithsonian Institution and opened in 1993.
National Postal Museum in 2008
Opening sign for dedication of the National Postal Museum
Mail-carrying stagecoach at National Postal Museum
Air-mail plane anchored from the ceiling at the National Postal Museum
Postage stamps and postal history of the United States
Postal service in the United States began with the delivery of stampless letters whose cost was borne by the receiving person, later encompassed pre-paid letters carried by private mail carriers and provisional post offices, and culminated in a system of universal prepayment that required all letters to bear nationally issued adhesive postage stamps.
Benjamin Franklin postage stamp issued in 1895
Benjamin Franklin Post Office in Philadelphia
Fanciful drawing by Marguerite Martyn in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of October 21, 1906, with, on the right, a rural post office in a general store
Multiple dates in 1861
