Farmington, CT Post Office And Stage Coach (Circa 1900?)

I found this postcard being offered for sale on Ebay and thought the image would have a lot of interest to postal history buffs, so I decided to post it:



I believe that's a "U.S.M." (US Mail) lettered in the area of the coach (right under the driver).

I also found it interesting that the general store shown doubled as the post office and the name on it is F.L. Scott (Frederic L. Scott). Not surprisingly, Mr. Scott, the proprietor of the store, also served as Farmington's Postmaster back in the day. In fact, I even found this image of him:



I found it an interesting tie-in to a classic postcard which is also a piece of postal history.

Thanks for posting this ... maybe I will bid .. I collect stagecoaches!!

This postcard shows an Abbot-Downing "Concord" stage coach; they were the "Cadillac" of later coaches, and were shipped all over the world, including South Africa and Queensland, Australia, because of their durability and quality. Many references in Google to the company, its founders, and the various wagons and coaches they manufactured.

Interesting information about the stage coach. Would that have been a US Post Office "vehicle" or a private carrier that was simply taking a load of mail along with them?

Also, look at the postcard carefully. The front wheel of the stage (on the building side of the picture) looks off. Is that an extra stage coach wheel sitting along the "curb" or is it just an optical illusion because of the angle of the picture?

Nice find wt1. Apparently a few people like it. I was going to bid on it but cannot afford it right now. Already blew my stamp budget for the week.

Wow! I just checked that bids are up to $37 for that postcard on Ebay ... and with 3 hours still to go!

I agree. I don't think the postcard is worth that high of a price, especially since there are plenty of others out there that I've seen with a similar image.

In fact, Wiki offers this on-line image of a postcard with a stage (facing different direction) ... and dates it to 1907 ... so I don't think these postcards are quite as rare as the sellers make them out to be. The image is said to be in the public domain:

Hi wt1,

Some info here from the University of Northern Iowa on the history of the stagecoach services,

http://www.uni.edu/iowahist/Frontie...agecoach.htm

Terry

Interesting history of the stagecoach. Makes me glad I didn't live in the 19th century stagecoach era ... before automobiles (or buses) were invented!