Is a Post Offices establishment date the date it opened for business?
Generally, a Post Office’s establishment date is the date of appointment of its first postmaster. Typically there was up to a two-month delay between the appointment of a postmaster and his or her first day in office. For example, Alfred Hunnewell, appointed as the first postmaster of the Columbia, California, Post Office on September 15, 1852, took office on November 16, 1852. Less typically – for example, at the Sacramento, California, Post Office – the first postmaster began serving before his appointment was officially recognized in Washington.
