Boyd's City Express Post mailbox

Boyd's City Express Post, American, 1854 - 1869 · 1844 - c. 1860

Before the Post Office Department established its monopoly of local city mail delivery, a large number of private post and messenger services appeared in cities and towns across the country. Boyd's City Express Post, operating principally in New York City, survived longer than most of the private companies, which were challenged in the courts by the government and finally displaced when Free City Delivery Service was instituted in 1863.