The Town of Chelsea in 1830 was divided into three
districts: the Ferry District which comprised all of present Chelsea,
the Point District which is now Winthrop, and the Centre District
which is now Revere. The Town’s population was 770 inhabitants, of
which only 30 lived within the present Chelsea limits. The Centre
District was the location of the first Meeting House, church and
school; all community affairs were conducted from here. It was in the
Centre District that the first Post Office was opened in 1832, at
Fenno’s Corner. The first postmaster was Horatio Alger, a Unitarian
minister and the father of Horatio Alger Jr. {author of about 119
success stories for boys}. Horatio Alger Sr. served as postmaster for
ten years before being succeeded by Abel Bowen.
During Horatio Alger Sr’s ten years as postmaster, rapid changes
occured in the Ferry district. The ferry was now operating under
steam. The Winnisimmet Company in 1833, purchased the Williams Farm
and in 1835, purchased the Shurtleff Farm. The land was sold in
individual lots for actual use. The population of the area grew. To
accommodate the growth the Post Office was transferred to 73
Winnisimmet Street. The next move came in 1874, when the Post Office
was located on Broadway and Third Street.
Mail volume increased as the city developed and soon larger
quarters were needed. In 1905, the Academy of Music building in
Chelsea Square, was destroyed by fire. The post office acquired the
ground floor of the new building constructed on the site. This
location proved ideal until the great fire of 1908. While the fire
was sweeping through the city, and before the building could be
consumed by flames, the Post Office personnel saved every piece of
mail, locking the mail in a cell in the police station. Temporary
quarters were set up in a poolroom under the Grand Army Hall. Mail
was sorted and laid out between the pool sticks. Meanwhile the former
building at 187 Winnisimmet Street was rebuilt in record time. The
Post Office moved back and reestablished it’s quarters in Chelsea
Square. Plans were drawn up and work begun on a new building on
Hawthorn Street in Bellingham Square. The new Post Office was
completed in 1910 at a cost of $125,000. The building was formally
dedicated by the President of the United States, Howard Taft. Horace
Lambert was postmaster at this time.
A few years ago the Postal Service opened a distribution center in
the Chelsea Market area off Beacham Street. The local office has
since relocated on Broadway near Fourth Street. The Post Office
building on Hawthorn Street, has been completely remodeled with a
preservation of the exterior facade. The Post Office building is now
the Chelsea Campus of the Bunker Hill Community College.
The name U. S. POST OFFICE, is still visible today etched into the
stone wall of the former Elks Building in Chelsea Square.