Fort Worth-Yuma Mail (Star Post Route No. 31454)
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
By the 1870s remote areas of the frontier not served by the railroads needed mail delivery routes. In response the U.S. Post Office Department, in 1873, began establishing Star Post Routes. On Aug. 15, 1878, Star Route No. 31454 was opened between Fort Worth and Yuma, Arizona Terr., under contract to J.T. Chidester. Stagecoaches carried the mail along much the same route used by the Butterfield Overland Mail in the late 1850s. Fort Worth to Yuma mail was discontinued after completion of the southern transcontinental railroad in 1881. (1976)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
By the 1870s, frontier settlements beyond the reach of the railroads still needed their mail, so the Post Office Department began contracting private "Star Routes" to carry it. On August 15, 1878, Route No. 31454 opened between Fort Worth and Yuma, Arizona Territory, under contractor J. T. Chidester, its stagecoaches largely retracing the old Butterfield Overland Mail line of the 1850s. The route lasted only until 1881, when the southern transcontinental railroad made it obsolete.
Why it matters
Star Routes were the lifelines of the frontier — the last era of stagecoach mail before the rails stitched the Southwest together for good.
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Related people
- · J. T. Chidester
Related events
- · Butterfield Overland Mail
Themes & tags
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