Post Offices

Delivering the Mail

The pattern of settlement of Hastings County is reflected in the history of its post offices. In older southern communities, post offices were opened by 1816 (Bay of Quinte, later Belleville). Post Offices in the north were established as townships were surveyed and opened for settlement. Construction of the Monck, Peterson and Hastings colonization roads in the 1850s was immediately followed by the opening of north Hastings post Offices.

The evolution of technology is also evident in the history of the post Offices.

Some post offices were open for only a few years to fill specific needs, such as a mine site. When the mine closed, so did the post office. Other post Offices underwent name changes. For example, Maynooth was first Tara (1861-1863), then Oxenden for a few months, then Maynooth. A few kilometres east, Maynooth Station was a separate post office on the Central Ontario Railway.

The presence of a post office brought a virtual department store to the most isolated community. Catalogues from Eaton's, Simpson's and other mail-order houses offered all the goods available in the city to dwellers in rural Hastings.

Eaton's began shipping by mail in 1884; Simpson's in 1885. In 1920, Simpson's promised one-day service from its shipping centres in Toronto, Regina and Halifax. Rural postmasters were overwhelmed with work handling mail-order parcels before and After Christmas (when gifts were returned).

Today, many small post Offices are run by private operators in convenience stores and gas stations - reminiscent of the post Offices of the 1800s.

Until the early part of the 20th century, almost every crossroads community had its post office. This enabled local residents to reach a distribution point easily by walking or in a horse-drawn conveyance. Rural Mail Delivery was introduced to Canada in 1908 on a route between Hamilton and Ancaster. Over the next seven years the rural delivery system brought mail directly to mailboxes on the concession roads in front of the farms. Contractors bid for the job of mail delivery.

The number of post Offices in Canada peaked in 1911, then began to drop as smaller rural postal outlets were closed in deference to rural delivery. The automobile, which was to effect so many changes in Canadian society, had come to the post office. Another round of closings took place during the 1930s and yet another in the 1960s.

Many small rural post Offices were operated from country stores or private homes. Being postmaster meant having a steady source of income and the position in many cases was passed on to the next generation of the family. The names of all postmasters and their years of service are available from Library and Archives Canada and can readily be found on the Internet.

Post Offices of Hastings

1. Actinolite 1858-1970
2. Albert 1874-1914
3. Anson 1888-1913
4. Bancroft 1879 (York River 1861-1879)
5. Bannockburn 1862-1969
6. Baptiste 1912-1970
7. Batawa 1943
8. Bay of Quinte 1816-1817
9. Bell Rapids 1905-1964
10. Belleville 1817, formerly Bay of Quinte
11. Belleville Station 1885-1942
12. Belleville Sub No. 3 1950-1976
13. Belleville Sub No. 4 1950-1955
14. Belleville 227 Station Street 1923-present
15. Bellview 1887-1920
16. Bessemer 1906-1914
17. Bicroft
18. Big Springs 1884-1900
19. Bird's Creek 1885-1970
20. Blessington 1856-1915
21. Bogart 1861-1931 (RR3 Tweed)
22. Bonarlaw 1884-1969 (Big Springs, Bellview)
23. Boulter 1869
24. Bridgewater 1853-1854 (later Cannifton)
25. Bridgewater 1858-1895 (later Actinolite)
26. Brinklow (1861-1884)
27. Bronson 1874-1926
28. Burgess Mines 1905-1916
29. Cannifton 1854- (formerly Bridgewater)
30. Centreview 1914-1964
31. Chapman 1873-1928
32. Chatterton 1885-1913
33. Coe Hill 1905-?, Coe Hill Mines 1884-1905
34. Conroy's Farm 1879-1886 (then Havergal)
35. Cooper 1861-1969
36. Corbyville 1882-2005
37. Crookston 1892-1970
38. Deloro 1881-1970
39. Detlor 1902-1969
40. East Hungerford 1898-1928
41. Egan Creek 1888-1916
42. Eldorado 1867
43. Elzevir 1908-1938
44. Empey 1888-1913
45. Faraday 1879-1953
46. Foxboro 1861 (formerly Smithville)
47. Frankford 1838-present
48. Fuller 1876-1916
49. Gilead 1893-1912
50. Gilmour 1887
51. Glanmire 1858-1939
52. Glen Lewis 1875-1877*
53. Glen Miller 1884-1963 (formerly Gordon Mills)
54. Glen Ross 1882-1914
55. Gordon Mills 1877-1884
56. Greenview 1873-1968
57. Gunter 1883-1969
58. Halloway 1859-1969
59. Halston 1879-1915 (in Tyendinaga)
60. Harold 1858-1969
61. Hartsmere 1881-1968
62. Havergal 1879-1929
63. Hazzards Corners 1893-1914
64. Hermon 1878-1970
65. Hilda 1873-1875 (in Thurlow)
66. Hogan 1900-1940 (RR1 Mill Bridge)
67. Hungerford 1846-1852, Parkhouse 1899-1931, later Tweed
68. Hybla 1879-1955
69. Ivanhoe 1851-1970
70. Kellar's Bridge 1860-1861
71. Kingsford 1871-1914
72. Lake 1889-1950
73. Lake St. Peter 1940- (formerly Porterville)
74. L'Amable 1869
75. L'Amable Station 1902-1904 (later Detlor)
76. Larkins 1885-1918
77. Latta 1894-1896, Poucher's Mills 1897-1912, 1913-1939
78. Latta's Mills 1851-1862 (later Plainfield)
79. Lime Lake 1859-1913
80. Lonsdale 1851-1968
81. Lost Channel April-November, 1899
82. McDonald Siding 1919-1926 (in Tudor)
83. Madoc 1836
84. Malone 1863-1868
85. Maple Leaf 1917-1920, 1922-1978
86. Marlbank 1860-?
87. Marmora 1831
88. Marysville 1851-?
89. Maynooth 1863-? (formerly Tara, Oxenden)
90. Maynooth Station 1908-1970
91. McArthurs Mills 1896
92. Melrose 1848-1918
93. Mill Bridge 1860-1969
94. Mill Point 1851 (Millpoint 1857, Bowen 1863, Deseronto 1881)
95. Minto 1901-1913
96. Moira 1841-1968
97. Moneymore 1860-1914
98. Monck Road 1896-1929
99. Monteagle Valley 1873-1970
100. Musclow 1910-1955
101. Myrehall 1870-1913
102. Naphan 1881-1913
103. New Carlow 1882-1968
104. Nugent 1880-1899 (in Wollaston)*
105. Ormsby 1886-1970, Rathbun Station 1885-1886
106. Otter Creek 1900-1931
107. Paudash Lake February-August 1888, then Wood
108. Phillipston 1852-1913
109. Plainfield 1862-? (formerly Latta's Mills)
110. Point Anne 1906-1970
111. Porterville 1912-1940 (later Lake St. Peter)
112. Purdy 1864-1956
113. Queensborough 1854-1969
114. Read 1869-1969
115. Restholme 1928-1942 (Limerick Twp)*
116. Rimington 1872-1918
117. River Trent 1826-1853, then Trenton (also Trent Port, Port Trent)
118. Rose Island 1887-1953 (Wollaston)
119. Roslin 1851
120. Rowland 1902-1918 (Mayo)
121. St. George 1851-1857 (later Ivanhoe)
122. St. Ola 1870-1970
123. Sarginson 1878-1913 (Rawdon Twp)*
124. Shanick 1864-1931 (Marmora)
125. Shannonville prior to 1833
126. Shaw 1910-1913 (Marmora)
127. Sidney Crossing 1873-1913
128. Sine 1885-1913 (Rawdon)
129. Smithville 1851-1861 (later Foxboro)
130. Spring Brook 1873
131. Steenburg 1891-1964
132. Steenburg Lake 1965-1969 (summers only)
133. Stirling 1852-? (Rawdon 1833-1852)
134. Stockdale 1867-1914
135. Stoco 1851-1958, 1961-1969
136. Sulphide 1912-1967
137. Thanet 1865-1909
138. The Flats 1887-1906 (Elzevir Twp)
139. The Ridge 1878-1967
140. Thomasburg 1853
141. Thurlow 1852-1873 (later Phillipston)
142. Thwaite 1881-1892 (Tudor Twp)
143. Trenton 1853
144. Trenton Sub 3 1968-1975
145. Tuftsville 1884-1913 (Sidney)
146. Turriff 1893-1961
147. Tweed 1852 (formerly Hungerford)
148. Umfraville 1864-1916
149. Vansickle 1898-1922
150. Wallbridge 1863-1913
151. Wellman's Corners 1863-1913
152. West Huntingdon 1845-1968
153. Wooler 1857- (Smiths Corners 1854-1857)
154. Wood 1888-1929 (formerly Paudash Lake)
155. York River 1861-1879 (later Bancroft)

List compiled from Library and Archives Canada Web site and Canada Post Offices 1755-1895, by Frank W. Campbell.