Rhode Island Tercentenary Issue
First Day Cover
300th Anniversary of the Settlement of Rhode Island
Issued on May 4, 1936 in Providence, RI - Scott #777 |
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Unofficial Town Cancel - Bradford,
Rhode Island
1st John B. Kilton
Cachet - Statue of Roger Williams - Planty #61d |
According to Postal
records, the first Post Office established at
Bradford was the Pawcatuck Post Office
established on November 8, 1847 with John
Hiscox acting as Postmaster. The name was
chosen in error, as Pawcatuck is in
Connecticut, not in Rhode Island. The name was
changed to Dorrville, 18 days later on
November 26, 1847. (There
are no know covers in existence from the Pawcatuck era.)
The Dorrville Post Office was disestablished
on January 27, 1827 and the name changed to
Niantic with Charles Vars as
Postmaster. This post office was disestablished
on March 31, 1911 and the name changed to
Bradford. The Post Office at Bradford,
(Westerly Township,
Washington County) was
established on March 31, 1911 under
Postmaster Enoch Vars (son of Charles Vars).
The post office is currently in operation under Postmaster
Nadine A. Davidson appointed on November 1, 2003.
Bradford was
founded as a mill village in 1846. It is located
in the township of Hopkinton just west of
Burlingame State Park. Hopkinton was
originally a part of the town of Westerly,
but was incorporated as a separate township in
1757. It was first settled in 1704 by
Daniel Lewis. The Wood River forms
the boundary between Hopkinton and
Richmond townships. There were a large number of
mills in the area of which only a few remain. Power for the
mills was provided by several rivers including Wood River,
Pawcatuck River and Ashaway River.
The current
population of Bradford is approximately 1750.
Bradford is 34 miles southwest
of Providence as the crow flies and is a little
over 6 square miles in area. |
Source:
Rhode
Island Postal History: The Post Offices - Merolla, Jackson &
Crowther |
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