Film shows rural postal delivery in 1903

History

Film shows rural postal delivery in 1903

by Tom Cochran • July 17, 2012 3:15 pm

Here's film that I came across in the Library of Congress' archives. It was shot on August 8th, 1903 in rural Washington, DC.

The film shows the delivery of US mail by a 2-horse vehicle. The postal employee gets out of the wagon and places mail in a standard metal mail box. A woman comes out of her house and removes the mail from the mail box, then buys stamps from the mail carrier as the picture ends.

10 comments

Tags: DC, history, USPS

Lost Washington: Benning Race Track (Jan 25, 2010)
Lost Washington: Tuckerman House (Jan 19, 2010)
Old survey maps show Georgetown around 1903 (Feb 29, 2012)
Lost Washington: Thompson's Dairy (Sep 7, 2010)
Lost Washington: The Army Medical Museum (May 21, 2009)

Tom Cochran runs the blog Ghosts of DC, which reveals the fascinating history of people and places in Washington, DC. He was born in Falls Church and now lives in Columbia Heights with his wife and dog.

Comments
Add a comment »

When you say "rural Washington, DC," you mean we're still within the District, but back when we still had farmland, etc., inside the diamond, right?

Just checking. This is cool!

by Geoffrey Hatchard on Jul 17, 2012 4:01 pm • link • report

Ummm....Are we watching the same film? Is it run in reverse? I saw a guy get out of the wagon, go to the metal mailbox and TAKE OUT a piece of mail. Then, the woman came around with another piece of mail, and also paid for postage.

by Fischy (Ed F.) on Jul 17, 2012 4:09 pm • link • report

...doesn't look that rural to me; e.g 2 houses right next each other. The chicken and the horse give a connotation of "rural" but otherwise, what makes it rural?

In any case this is really neat and thanks for sharing it. It looks like the lady is buying postage from the postman then giving him her letter. Wouldn't that be convenient.

by Tina on Jul 17, 2012 4:52 pm • link • report

@Geoff

Yes, I think it would be best to call this "rural District of Columbia". Even though the District of Columbia has had a consolidated government since 1871, the cities of Washington and Georgetown remained intact. In 1895 Congress passed an act that allowed the City of Washington formally annexed Georgetown. However, oddly enough, there was never any act of Congress to *formally* make the boundaries of the City of Washington coextensive with the District. As such, the name "Washington, D.C." was applied to the entire District somewhat unevenly over the following decades as the street grid and city services were brought further and further out. Eventually these suburban towns developed into actual city neighborhoods.

So, there it is. All of you who live in Columbia Heights, or Anacostia, or Tenleytown may think you live in "Washington" but you're really just posers. j/k ;-)

by Adam L on Jul 17, 2012 5:32 pm • link • report

This is awsome! If you look at the large swaths of DC deeloped in the 1920's and 30's, it's easy to imagine the "country" aspect of this scene. Back then the line between country and suburban town wasn't probably so clear as today. The thing that always stands out to me in films of this era is how rail thin everyone looks.

by Thayer-D on Jul 18, 2012 5:16 am • link • report

No high fructose corn syrup.

by William on Jul 18, 2012 6:35 am • link • report

It's corn sugar now. Sugar is sugar.

by Thayer-D on Jul 18, 2012 6:41 am • link • report

What a find! The LoC has a trove of prints and photos online--but where at LoC did you find this video?

by Kevin R Kosar on Jul 18, 2012 8:52 am • link • report

Nice. I wouldn't call it rural though. Horse drawn carriagse were the norm at the time in cities, and even today I wouldn't consider a city of 300,000 rural, much less in 1903.

by King Terrapin on Jul 19, 2012 1:59 pm • link • report

Curious as to who would be making a film in 1903 (very rare) and for what purpose.

The chicken was a nice touch.

by Jack Love on Jul 23, 2012 3:22 pm • link • report