The Mail Must Go Through: Seattle’s First Post Roads
In June 1876, Congress carved the first official postal arteries through Washington Territory, linking the fledgling town of Seattle to Snohomish, Tacoma, and the coal mines that would fuel its growth.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
POST ROUTES IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY.
Bills introduced by Judge Jacobs for post routes in this Territory have all passed the House, and will undoubtedly pass the Senate; after which our Delegate will see that service is immediately procured and Postmasters appointed where required. The following are the new routes established by these bills:
From Seattle to Wallula. From Seattle to Snohomish City. From Kamilche, Mason County, to Elma, in Chehalis County. From Port Townsend to Port Ludlow, via Chimacum. From Tacoma, via New Tacoma, to Elihi, in Pierce County. From Seminoo, Whatcom County, Washington Territory, to New Westminster, British Columbia. From Seattle to Benton Coal Mines. From Seattle to Lake Washington Coal Mines. From Seattle, via Mukilteo and Loud, to Snohomish City. From Colfax to Palouse Bridge. From Olympia, via Kamilche, to Elma. From Columbus, on the Columbia River, via Chamberlain Plains, the head of Rock Creek, the Forks of Rock Creek, L. J. Barley’s, on Alder Creek, and J. Morgan’s, on the Topnish, to Yakima City. From Skookum Chuck to Oakville, on route forty-three thousand and one, Lewis County. From Snohomish to Falls City.
This 1876 legislation laid the bureaucratic groundwork for Seattle’s connectivity. By officially linking the town to the lucrative Benton and Lake Washington coal mines, the federal government wasn't just delivering mail; it was subsidizing the industrial engine that would transform Seattle from a muddy frontier settlement into a major Pacific port within two decades.
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