Information from the History of Salisbury by John Dearborn, 1890, Salisbury Lost by Paul Shaw, 1995, and They Said it in Salisbury, 1994 by Paul Shaw
SALISBURY HEIGHTS
F.P. Drew Store & Post Office, abt 1891-1930. Burned abt 1925-1930
Frank Drew operated a Store & Post Office at this location. Other years of post office operation are uncertain.
In 1891, Jonathan P. Webster built this home and ran a store from it.
According to Paul Shaw, in Salisbury, Lost in about 1892, it became Drews Store, and he ran a store and also a Post Office.
In 1915, Frank Drew sold his store, and it passed through several hands, but the store was described as in operation when it burned in abt 1925-1930.
Whatever years it was, both a store with a Post Office (outside of the time Frank Drew was the owner) is unclear. More research is needed.
SMITH’S CORNER & BLACKWATER POST OFFICE
McAlister House, Warner Road
Near Smith’s Corner, near the junction of Little Road (opposite)
July 1, 1879 to 1880, Smith’s Corner Post Office, Postmaster McAlister
Feb 2, 1899-Oct 31, 1901 Blackwater Post Office, Postmaster Rhoda McAlister, grandmother of one-time Post Master, Dorothy Bartlett.
The home was sold to the US Government in 1941 and destroyed to create the Blackwater Flood Plain.
WEST SALISBURY/MILL VILLAGE
Dunlap Store & Post Office
Junction of Bay Road and West Salisbury Road
1858-1920’s
Built by Cyrus Gookin as a store and Post Office, ca 1858.
Operated it himself, then in partnership with William Dunlap, before selling it to him. William sold it to his son, who operated it until he died in the 1920s.
SOUTH ROAD VILLAGE
South Road Post Office
Possibly in 3 separate locations in this area over time.
1) 1797-1803 Thompson House, The First Post Office in South Road Village, now the Walker House.
Located next to the Congregational Church. Just south of the Congregational Church. Burned ( in part?) 1815, Rebuilt 1816-1817.
The occupant from 1797-1803 was the Honorable T.W. Thompson of Newburyport, MA., who was the first postmaster.
It is unclear when the post office moved to the Greenough’s Store.
Likely Second Location or Third Location
Image of Old Greenough’s Store & Post Office after the fire of 1894
Cunliff’s Store & Post Office
Barton’s Store
Crossroads Store & Salisbury Post Office was owned by Norma Lovejoy in 1960
Interim Location
Oral History interview with postmaster Dot Bartlet by Gayle Henry, published in “They Said It In Salisbury” addendum, p. 293:
Interview date: May 6, 2004
GH: You were postmistress in Salisbury?
DB: Yes, I was postmaster in Salisbury for 19 years.
GH: Wasn’t the post office in the store? (Crossroads Store)
DB: Yes. When Norma ran the post office, the post office was open any hour of the day, as the store was open. You could get a money order at five in the morning or at eight o’clock at night.
GG: Then where did it go?
DB: It stayed there, and I took over there, and I had to change hours cause they would only give me eight hours a day. That was the hardest thing because you could not please everybody. And the lease expired, and the Postal Service did not want to renew the lease there. They knew we needed more room. That’s when they went to work on a new building. In the meantime, between the time the lease was out and we could move in, we were in a trailer up by the fire station. A trailer with no water, no plumbing, and they why put us up there, so if we were lucky and had two minutes, you could run over to the fire station and get back and hope nobody had come in the meantime.
GH: How long were you there?
DB: We are only up there from early spring until January.
GH: It must’ve seemed lavish moving into the new post office.
DB: It was good, I enjoyed what time I had there.
A follow-up conversation with Dot Bartlett, 9/27/19, clarified a few points and expounded further:
As Dot Bartlet remembers: When a child, it was fun to visit the Cunliff Store. The Post office was located inside, on the north side of the store, where there was a store entrance facing the church side. She remembers that the Post Office was left of the door entry. At some point, it was moved to a small room in the store toward the back, south wall. All mail was handed to the resident by the mail clerk (Dot Bartlett) or postmistress, Norma Lovejoy. When the Post Office moved to the new room, boxes were installed for those interested. Access to mailboxes was by a combination rather than a key. Presumably, it was at this point that the original mail slot box unit was given to the Historical Society and remains in the Museum.
Norma Lovejoy was the postmistress for 19 years, and Dot was her clerk and became the postmistress for 19 years. Dot Bartlett remembers riding along with Norma down the Gerrish Road to get the mail for several years. At some point, the train no longer stopped a the Gerrish Depot, and the mail was then delivered from the Franklin train.
The interim location for the Post office was behind the Fire station, which was on Route 4, nearly at the Heights.
Dot Bartlett spent many hours setting up the new post office with all the many numbers.
Current Location Salisbury Post Office Route 4