History of the post office/postal service in Mesa, Arizona.

1. Going postal
Mailing Memories
In Mesa

2. Mailing Memories in Mesa
In 1881, there were more than 44,152 post offices
in America. Mesa had just one. Located on the
south side of Main Street and McDonald, the first
post office furnished mail to the fewer than 200
residents in Mesa.!

3. The First Post Office in Mesa

4. Mesa, Arizona, September 8, 1894

5. Lehi, Arizona, August 21, 1900

6. Mailing Memories in Mesa
• The first postmaster in Mesa was Fanny VanCott Macdonald
the Mayor’s wife. She ran the post office out of her small,
adobe general store from 1881-1885. !
• Mesa was initially called Mesa City, but postal authorities
would not allow this name for the post office because it could
be confused with Mesaville, another Arizona town.!
• The post office was called Hayden until 1886. The earliest
known postmark from Hayden is from December 13,1883. In
May of 1886, the post office became known as Zenos and then
later was referred to as Mesa when the post office at Mesaville,
Arizona was closed.!

7. Fanny VanCott Macdonald,
first postmaster in Mesa

8. Zenos, Arizona, 1897

9. Mesa, Arizona, 1906

10. Hand tooled leather post card,
Mesa, Arizona, 1907

11. Mesa Union High School

12. Mailing Memories in Mesa
In early days, before the town of Mesa was
officially settled, mail arrived in Arizona Territory
via stagecoach. By 1895, mail was delivered to the
west via the Transcontinental Railroad. The rail
line connected with the Maricopa and Phoenix
railroad in 1895. The first train station in Mesa was
at University between Center and Sirrine!

13. Train Station, Mesa, AZ

14. Mailing Memories in Mesa
• For decades, post offices served as the center for town life.
This was the place where neighbors met to talk about their day.
The post office also served in times of tragedy. !
• During the Small Pox Epidemic of 1883, John MacDonald,
son of Fannie contracted small pox after a trip out of town.
Upon his return, his illness swept through the town, killing
15% of the town’s population, or about 44 people. The Post
Office his mother ran became a quarantined “Pest House” until
the epidemic was over. Mesa’s First Cemetery was established
to deal with the high number of deaths from the illness.!

15. Mailing Memories in Mesa
In 1937 Mesa’s third post office, now known as the
Federal Building, was built as part of Presidents
Roosevelt’s WPA project during the Great Depression.
Using his connections, Mesa Postmaster F.K. Pomeroy
was able to bring United States Postmaster General
James Farley to Mesa for the dedication. !
"!

16. Federal Building, circa 1950’s

17. Post Office Dedication

19. Mesa, Arizona 1930

20. Mesa, Arizona 1941

21. El Portal Hotel 1942

22. Mailing Memories in Mesa
Mesa’s quick expansion created the need for more
and more post offices. In 1947, Mesa had seven #
city routes and three rural routes serving Mesa’s
16,790 residents through one main post office.
These maps display some of the postal routes in #
the early 1939’s.!

23. Postal Zoning Map

24. Mailing Memories in Mesa
• In 1883 Domestic Letters were 2 cents per half
ounce, and postcards/stamped cards were 1 cent.!
• By 1944, stamps were 3 cents. !
• Today Domestic Letters are 44 cents per ounce,
and postcards/stamped cards are 29 cents.!

25. 1894 letter sent from Mesa to New York for 2 cents. It took
5 -6 days for a letter to travel across the country

27. Mailing Memories in Mesa
Even though Mesa was a distant outpost, it didn’t
stop people from sending almost anything through
the mail. These crates from 1945 were used to mail
eggs which were commonly sent by mail from 1913
until about 1950.!

30. Metal egg crate, held 6 dozen eggs

31. Metal egg crate held 2 dozen eggs

33. Mailing Memories in Mesa
The mail can tell us much about a place and its
people. Postmarks immortalize a place in time and
give us clues as to how the mail was delivered in
the west. These post cards written by early
residents, give us a glimpse into what life was like
in Arizona in the last century.!

34. Maricopa Inn, Mesa, AZ 1953

35. Maricopa Inn, Mesa, AZ 1952

36. Buckhorn Baths Mineral Spa, Mesa, AZ 1955

38. Mesa, Country Club, 1960

39. Airmail, Mesa, AZ 1963

40. Letter from Immigrant Chinese settler in Mesa
to his brother in China.

41. Letter from Immigrant Chinese
settler in Mesa to his brother in
China.

42. Copper postcard,
Mesa, AZ 1970.

43. All objects and images courtesy of!
Greg Marek and !
Mesa Historical Museum!