Providence Post Office (Main)

The Providence Post Office used three different First Day of Issue cancel types on the "Settling of Rhode Island" postal cards. The Third (Type 3) above has a Circular Date Stamp (CDS) with a diameter of 23.5 mm and does not have an FDC Bar. The Providence cancellations for this issue were completed at a special cancelling station used for this event only and used a 02940 Zip Code. The actual Zip code for the Main Providence Post Office is 02904

The first Postmaster in Providence, Rhode Island was Samuel Chase who was appointed by the General Assembly of June 1758.

Mr. Chase operated the Post office from his book store. The second Postmaster for Providence was John Carter who was appointed in 1772 and operated the Post Office from his print shop at Shakespeare's Head on Meeting Street. Mr. Carter was the Providence Postmaster until 1792. The Providence Post Office was officially established by an act of the United States Congress on February 16, 1790. (Rhode Island didn't ratify the constitution until May 29, 1790.) The 2nd Providence Post Office (First Fully Automated Post Office in the USA) was established in 1960 and commemorated with a new stamp issued on October 20, 1960. The current Postmaster is Daniel J. Doyle Jr. appointed on July 9, 2005.

There are 17 additional Post Office Branches and Stations located in the Providence Urban area. Each one of these branch and station post offices include a location map on their pages.