A a post office was first established in Chicago on March 8, 1831, with Johnathan N. Baily, a

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

r, being appointed Chicago's first

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

. Chicago was long the hub of the

Railway Mail Service The Railway Mail Service of the United States Post Office Department was a significant mail transportation service in the US from the mid-19th century until the mid-20th century. The RMS, or its successor the Postal Transportation Service (PTS), ...

of the United States. Chicago saw particularly large volumes of mail in the peak era of mail-order business by Chicago-based retailers

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001; its common nickname was "Monkey Wards". ...

and

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

Postmasters appointed before 1971

Until the establishment of the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

in 1971, the

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

appointed local postmasters. In the 19th century, many appointees of postal positions in the United States were

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

positions, with newspaper editors with close ties to the president's party often receiving postmastership positions.

Postmasters appointed after 1971

Officers in charge

The following individuals served as "officer in charge of the Chicago Post Office" during periods in which there was a vacancy in the position of postmaster of Chicago:

References

{{reflist

Postmasters appointed before 1971

Postmasters appointed after 1971

Officers in charge

See also

References