First Post Road
Gates County, Gates County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
First Post Road. The road from New England to Charleston, over which mail was first carried regularly in North Carolina, 1738-39, passed near this spot.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
By 1738 a post road stretched from New England all the way to Charleston, and along this route mail began moving on a regular schedule through North Carolina for the first time. Riders carrying letters and news passed near this spot, knitting the far-flung colonies a little more tightly together. It was a lifeline of communication in an age before railroads or the telegraph.
Why it matters
Regular mail service helped bind the American colonies into a connected community, laying groundwork for the shared identity that made a nation possible.
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Related events
- · First regular mail service in North Carolina, 1738-39
Themes & tags
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