Dead Post Offices (Dpo/D.p.o) In Ontario/Canada

It is indeed the last recorded date for this Fyfield broken circle datestamp according to the PHSC website's broken circle data base. Earliest recorded strike is MR 30 / 1892. There is no recorded proof strike.

In its sixteen years of operation it had two postmasters: Alfred Gibson (1884-1895); and Thomas P. V. Manley (1896-1900). It was a non-accounting office which meant that it was not allowed to sell money orders.

Noted this registered cover on ebay today. It's a great stepping-off point for history buffs. The Mail and Empire reply cover has a lovely 1-split-ring Spry postmark dated April 30, 1902.



Spry is a small collection of houses on the west side of the Bruce Peninsula in Eastnor Township. According to CollectionsCanada.com Its post office opened Jan 1, 1878 and closed August 31, 1916.

The Mail and Empire, along with George Brown's newspaper, The Globe, ultimately merged to become The Globe and Mail. Canadian stamp fans will, of course, recognize George Brown's name from his image on the August 21, 1968, stamp issue (Canada Scott#484) that can be seen enlarged to show its hidden date on the following thread:

https://goscf.com/t/10808&whichpage=10

I'll contribute one. Franklin Ont. Just east (or it was) of Lake Scugog in Southern Ontario. Died off, like many others, when the railway (GTR) pulled up stakes and left.




The cancel is actually a double strike. The postal clerk had stamped JU (June) 8, then re-stamped it - pretty accurately- with the correct JY (July) 8.
If it had been June 8, this would qualify for the earliest recorded use of this cancel, which, as it stands, is Jun 13, 1871.
Note the inverted 17 in the year indicia.

Great one Jamesw! Not only a double strike but a double dpo in that the Enfield Post Office is also one having closed in 1914. Was there a receiver back-stamp on the back? I Like how this person recorded having replied. I've seen merchants keep records of payments by marking name and amount paid on the end or back of the cover and then store the cover.

Sadly, nothing on the back. That's pretty cool about the Enfield office, though. I never even thought to look into that. Looks like I'll have to redo the album page.

The cover below is presently for sale on ebay and described by the seller as "Canada Pair Scott #74 & #U9 Cover Mar 3, 1901 Paisley to Vistan".



I wonder if the cover was mailed in Eden Grove and passed through the Paisley Post Office in transit and from there it eventually arrived at Vesta, Ontario. There is a Paisley split-ring backstamp on the back of the cover.

The cover is addressed to T. R. Todd in Vesta. In addition to the conundrum related to the cover's route there is also one pertaining to the recipient in that there were two Thomas R. Todds living in Brant Township, Bruce County, at this time who not only lived a few miles from one another but were the same age with birthdays only months apart. I believe this letter was sent to the Thomas Todd who boarded with the Benjamin Cannon Family who resided at the Vesta "corner". The community of Vesta is now a "ghost town" but was quite active in its day. An excellent description of the community is provided at the following internet site;

http://www.ghosttownpix.com/ontario....UuhKzRAo7s0

Vesta also plays an important role in a story related to the early settlement of Brant Township that pertains to the Bacon family who were original settlers along the historic Durham Road at the south end of the township as documented by Dean Wheaton (2008) in his book "Letters from Bruce County". Google provides a partial preview at the following link:

http://books.google.ca/books?id=W2I...9edF441Ww8fM

The Vesta Post Office opened on May 1, 1860 and closed on December 31, 1914 with the initiation of rural mail delivery.

Hi cynical,

With your interest in the "dead" post offices of Grey and Bruce counties, have you ever looked at the newsletter put out by the Grey, Bruce, Dufferin and Simcoe postal history study group. It is loaded with historical post office data. If you would like a copy send me an email jknierim [at] bmts.com

Berliner: thanks very much for your kind offer but I'm at an age where I no longer buy stamps, covers, or green bananas as they say. In fact I am de-evolving. After winding up estates related to deaths in the family it is my goal to get rid of as many connections and material things that I have accumulated over the years as I can. Based on this same experience my wife vowed to do the same but she is still accumulating, in fact, I think she is addicted to airmile points. The other day she brought home two jars of the same type of salad dressing with the same expiry date to go with the other ten jars of various other types that we have in the fridge. She wasn't happy when I mentioned that we would not finish one let alone two jars by the appointed date. She just could not pass up a two-for-one sale.

Now to pat myself on the back as I am wont to do. When you commented on the post further up the thread I said to myself "self, I bet that guy Berliner is from Kitchener". Also I commend you for being with BMTS. I remember my uncle being on a party line and hand-crank phones with what was then the small little Bruce Telephone System.

As a result of your kind offer I found the organization that you belong to and it appears to be an excellent one with a web site (link below) that I highly recommend to people here with similar interests.

http://www.postalhistorycanada.net/...s/GreyBruce/

Here is a 3-cent small Queen Victoria (Canada Scott#37) with a pen cancel and an associated Blairton red 1-split-ring postmark dated March 23, 1872. The Blairton Post Office opened on August 1, 1867 and closed on October 26, 1929.

......and adding to the Lovat dpo theme I noted this postcard for sale on ebay today. It would also fit with my "genealogy on postal covers" thread as it has to do with members of two Paisley area families exchanging New Year wishes, namely Isabel Young in North Cobalt, Ontario to Mrs James Rose in Lovat and dated Dec 21, 1912. At the time there was a minor movement of people to the Cobalt-New Liskeard area looking for farmland on Ontario's Little Clay Belt or for work in the famous Cobalt silver mines. The Lovat Post Office would close not long after this item was received.

Bluevale, Ontario SP 15 04 - closest PO is in Wingham according to Canada Post

JimJung: Thanks for that - triggered memories of nearby places such as Gorrie, Wroxeter, Belmore, & Teeswater, as well as Don Robertson & the Ranch Boys with his wife Cora on the piano, Saturday afternoon movies (mostly westerns) at the Wingham theatre and, of course, I can't forget mentioning Alice Munro.

Craig Harbour is in Northern present day Nunavut close to Greenland.

The picture below represents some postal history that was part of Mulmur Township's 150th Anniversary (1851-2001) celebration. If memory serves me the township was originally part of Simcoe County, Ontario, but with some boundary adjustments in the late 1870's it ended up in adjacent Dufferin County.

The display of old postmarks is from the collection of George Power. The picture of the Mansfield Post Office was taken around 1900 and is from the June Gilbert Collection. In addition to Mulmur and Mansfield they are: Airlie, Banda, Whitfield, Randwick, Rosemont, Scarlet Hill, Violet Hill, Honeywood, Perm, Lavender, Black Bank, Stanton, Terra Nova, Ruskview, Earnscliffe and Kilcorrie.



The following link provides a brief history in pdf format of each of the postal hamlets:

http://mulmur.ca/content/visitors-c...nd-signs.pdf

Hi

I thought that I would add some information to the Craig Harbour Post Office. The office was named after John Davidson Craig who was a representative of the Department of the Interior. The 1922 Eastern Arctic Patrol conducted by RCMP Inspector Charles E. Wilcox and Captain Joseph E, Bernier named the water body. The RGMP post also went by this name. The office closed in September 15, 1926, but, was re-opened September 4, 1933. It again closed on September 8, 1940. It had various openings and closings for a number of years. The re-opening dates are August 30, 1951, August 25, 1956 and at this time it was moved to Grise Fjord. The last noted re-opening date was November 23, 1956 and at that time the name was officially changed to Grise Fjord.

Chimo

Bujutsu