The postal exhibit at the Museum of Sonoma County runs through Sept. 7. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
I take mail for granted. Well, I take the delivery part of it for granted. The contents—when personal—I savor.
Until a trip last month to the Museum of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa I had never thought about how novel it was at one time for mail to be flown from one area to another. It’s been a reality my entire lifetime.
Sonoma County is credited with recording that airmail delivery. It was a short flight—Petaluma to Santa Rosa—in 1911.
A scale model of the plane is part of the exhibit, while the actual plane hangs from the rafters in the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.
The plane was built by Fred Wiseman who lived in Sonoma County. He was a mechanic and race car driver.
As the museum says, “That one remarkable flight laid the groundwork for what would become the fastest way to deliver letters and packages around the world.”
The exhibit is small, but fun and informative.
One thing that makes it even more interesting is the museum was Santa Rosa’s original post office, opening in 1910 for mail and as a museum in 1985. It ceased being a post office in 1966.
The county has been part of mail history for a while, with the post office in the town of Sonoma opening in 1849 as one of the first in the state.
“Before 1863, all mail was just delivered to the post office and people had to pick it up there,” the exhibit says. “As a result, post offices were an important gathering places where people congregated to wait for the arrival of the mail, socialize and share news of the day. If you wanted mail delivered to your home or business, you had to pay for it.”
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Deets:
- The exhibit runs through Sept. 7
- Address: 475 Seventh St., Santa Rosa
- Phone: 707.579.1500
- Cost: $10
In the 1950s, a postcard (including the card) was $0.01….First-Class mail stamp was $0.03…..Airmail stamp (now extinct) was $0.05.
Funny how cities all have their claim to fame of firsts! Boise Idaho claims to be the site of the first Commercial airmail flight that passed from Pasco Wa. through Boise in its way to Elko, Nevada. April 26, 1926
Informative and timely as it’s the 250-year anniversary of the US Postal Service. Great small museum, which will install an exhibit of Christo’s fence. He was from Sonoma Co.
I love this museum. It truly is the little engine that could as it was scheduled for demolition when the new mall was being built. It was moved, via logs, to its present location and is a destination worth visiting. Can the past-its-prime mall say the same?
As for this current exhibit, thanks Kae. I can’t wait to see it. I love all things mail related!
A written note, a letter, a simple line of sympathy or writing loving phrases is like a warm, human hand-clasp to some one lonely or in the midst of an attack of the blues. A letter means many pleasant things and can keep the far-distant together. ~”On Writing Notes,” The Crescent of Gamma Phi Beta, 1904