United States Post Office Department

"Post Office Department" redirects here. For the former Canadian Post Office Department, see Canada Post.

United States
Post Office Department

Postal system overview
Formed	February 20, 1792 (1792-02-20)
Dissolved	July 1, 1971
Superseding agency	United States Postal Service
Headquarters	Postal Office Headquarters
Postal system executive	Postmaster General

The Post Office Department (1792–1971) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, in the form of a Cabinet department officially from 1872 to 1971. It was headed by the Postmaster General.

The Postal Service Act signed by President George Washington on February 20, 1792, established the Department. Postmaster General John McLean, in office from 1823 to 1829, was the first to call it the Post Office Department rather than just the "Post Office." The organization received a boost in prestige when President Andrew Jackson invited his Postmaster General, William T. Barry, to sit as a member of the Cabinet in 1829. The Post Office Act of 1872 (17 Stat. 283) elevated the Post Office Department to Cabinet status.

During the Civil War (1861–65), postal services in the Confederacy were provided by the CSA Post Office Department, headed by Postmaster General John Henninger Reagan.

The Postal Reorganization Act was signed by President Richard Nixon on August 12, 1970. It replaced the cabinet-level Post Office Department with the independent Postal Service on July 1, 1971. The regulatory role of postal services was transferred to the Postal Regulatory Commission.

See also

• Postage stamps and postal history of the United States