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From Benjamin Franklin to Pony Express to anthrax: How the US Postal Service shaped a nation
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From Benjamin Franklin to Pony Express to anthrax: How the US Postal Service shaped a nation

  • By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press

The U.S. Postal Service is turning 250. Saturday's anniversary comes as the agency faces financial challenges. The postal service was established in 1775, when the Second Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin as postmaster general. Its service predates the United States, launched nearly a year before the colonies declared their break from British rule. A key link between colonial leaders and the Continental Army, it also helped unify the fragmented colonies by spreading ideas of liberty and independence and would help shape the nation throughout its history. It still reaches nearly every American daily.

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Benjamin Franklin served as the first U.S. postmaster general, from 1753 to 1774. At the time, the title of the position was deputy postmaster…